76 • happiful.com • September 2019
“There’s an adult ward and a
children’s ward. The staff and
patients say that the best day of
the month is donkey day,” says
Sarah. “They get to come and
groom the donkeys, and we walk
around the grounds with them,
leading them.
“They’re building a relationship
with the donkeys, and one of
the young patients saw from
our website that it was Pixie’s
birthday, so he made a special
card for her.”TOUCHING LIVES
Sarah has countless stories of the
people who have been touchedby the work that they’re doing
with Mini Donks. But when she
reflects on her time working with
organisations in her community,
one story in particular stands out
in her memory.
“There’s a chap who we met at a
nursing home in North Norfolk,
which caters for people with
very severe dementia. He was
non-verbal, and he suffered from
a shuffling gait – so he shuffled
with his hands curled up in fists
against his chest.
“A careworker brought him in
to the pen with the donkeys, and
they very gently took his hand.
As his hand went down on to the
back of the donkey, he opened
up and started stroking. I put a
brush in his hand and he begin
to hum.
“He groomed that donkey like
a professional. He went from
behind the ears, down the neck,
along the back, down by the
sides, down all four legs, then
looked around, saw the other
donkey, shuffled over, groomed
the other donkey. Then he put
the brush back in our hands, and
off he went.”A year on, Sarah and the donkeys
went back to visit the same
nursing home.
“He was still there, but much
worse. He was asleep in a chair,
and the care staff very gently woke
him up. He looked up, took the
donkey’s face in his hands and
kissed it.”
Sarah explains how the five or
so minutes that people spend
with the donkeys can make all the
difference to their wellbeing, and
creating these moments is at the
heart of what Mini Donks do.
“My dad has got severe dementia,
and he doesn’t always know who
I am,” says Sarah. “He doesn’t
care much for donkeys, but if
something reached him the way
that the donkeys reach these
people, I would be delighted.”BEHIND THE SCENES
The work that Mini Donks does
is propelled forwards by 12
volunteers, who give up their time
to take care of the donkeys, and
come along on wellbeing visits.
But for Sarah, and the others who
support their mission, the work
they do also supports their own
mental health.
“It’s been a saviour for my mental
wellbeing,” Sarah explains. “And
a lot of our volunteers come to
us because they want something
for themselves, to help them with
their wellbeing.
“People have come to us lacking
in confidence, and with anxiety
issues. But being around the
donkeys, and them being a
facilitator to help the donkeys help
somebody else, is a really powerful
thing.”
But despite being the driving force
behind the social enterprise, Sarah
is quick to step out of the spotlight.They’re huge
destressers
because they’re
just themselves,
and they’re very
gentle souls
Mini Donks has now grown to seven donkeys
and 12 wonderful volunteers