A COMPANY has become the UK’s first homecare provider to offer a dedicated dog therapy service for its customers.

The Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) service is being launched by Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland).

This involves the use of trained Labrador dogs who are taken into people’s homes or out in the community to provide companionship and friendship.

The service is being offered to existing Caremark customers, as well as anyone else who would benefit from animal-based therapy.

Staff at Caremark are also benefitting from interaction with the dogs following a year which has seen them working continuously on the front-line during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Animal Assisted Therapy was the brainchild of Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) Managing Director Michelle Jackson.

She has an older Labrador called Acer who initially was just brought into the Caremark office in Guisborough and became an instant hit with the head office team.

Having seen the positive impact Acer had on staff, he was then brought, pre Covid-19, to a community initiative launched by Caremark in Redcar called ‘Safe Place’ which saw staff and customers coming together each week to take part in activities in a social setting.

Michelle says: “The customers all loved Acer and it was wonderful to see them interact with him, so it gave me the idea introducing dogs as therapy on a wider scale.”