Three years of friendship: our important new partnership with Newcastle Hospitals Trust

This is a really exciting time for Wag as we recently launched our three year partnership with Newcastle Hospitals Charity. Our red bandanas have been a feature across Northumbria Healthcare NHS since 2018, and now we will be bringing smiles to the faces of patients and staff with visits from Friendship Dogs at the RVI, the Freeman Hospital, the Great North Children’s Hospital as well as patients in their own homes in the community. Another very special moment for our little charity, and we couldn’t be prouder!

Visiting Wag Teams will help bring comfort and lift spirits at a time when it is needed most, and for the first time, exclusively to our hospital partnerships, we will also be visiting younger patients. To make this possible, we have developed a special extra visiting children’s assessment for our dogs, so we can safely bring dog cuddles to children and their families in Great North Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman at what can be a very difficult time.

We are welcoming Jackie, Martin, and Peter to the Wag family, who were already volunteering with Daisy and Millie for the Trust. We’re honestly in awe of the difference they’re making, particularly in the children’s wards.

Now, with Lesley, Jan, Elle, and many more in the pipeline joining them too, we’re delighted at the prospect that together we can do more for the patients in wards and in the community.

We can’t wait to see this partnership grow and to see even more of our wonderful volunteers and their amazing dogs making a difference where it’s really needed. A huge thank you to Newcastle Hospitals Charity for putting your trust in us.