Your+Dog++May+2019

54 Your Dog May 2019

Dogs can help to tackle

loneliness and isolation in older

people. Joanne Bednall reports.

A little sprinkling

of magic

F

or the past three

years, more than 1,900

older people living in

Northumberland, Tyne & Wear,

County Durham and the Tees

Valley, have been enjoying

the company of volunteer

befrienders and their dogs,

thanks to Wag & Company

North East Friendship Dogs.

Wag & Company is the i rst

organisation in the UK that

enables professionally assessed

volunteers and their dogs to

visit the elderly in their own

homes, as well as those in care

or medical establishments.

The charity now boasts 265

volunteer befrienders — or

‘visiting Wag teams’ — who’ve

made more than 40,000 ‘friend

visits’ across the region in an

ef ort to improve the lives

of older dog lovers who feel

lonely and isolated.

BACKGROUND

AND HISTORY

Founded by business people in

the North East, and supported

by local companies, Wag

& Company was launched as

a registered charity in May

2016. Despite initially having
      just 10 volunteers and
      self-funding for the i rst year,
      the charity is on track to hit
      ambitious targets for 2019:
      270 volunteers, making more
      than 42,000 friend visits.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The charity’s vision is that

no older person in the North

East should miss out on the

friendship and company of

a dog, thanks to them

receiving regular visits from

a professionally assessed

visiting Wag team.

In addition to the many

Sheila and Eddie.

52-54 YD Charity CS(SW)ok.indd 54 26/03/2019 09:45