It costs £470 this year for each Visiting Wag Team. Your support provides friends for older dog lovers in the community.
John Robson from Cramlington tells us why life is so much better with friends.
Loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Many people have lost friends and family as they have got older and at the same time they have found themselves unable to care for a dog any more.
Some are bereaved, grieving, profoundly lonely with failing health and desperately miss the friends they've lost, two legged and four legged; with Wag & Company they get both.
David Dawson, Older Person's Specialist, Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust says: “My background is secondary care, tablets, doctors, treatment plans etc. All very important to staying well. The work that you are doing in Wag is just as important, because when people are lonely and isolated, it is next to impossible to stay well.”
Our friends, their stories..
Some lovely examples of Visiting Wag Teams helping to combat loneliness with a regular chat, a cuppa and that much missed furry cuddle.
Visiting Wag Team Ellie and Toby visit Miss Shirley S in Redcar
Visiting Wag Team Helen and Jasper visit Mrs Gladys D near Consett
Visiting Wag Team Steph and Alfie visit Mrs Josephine P in Middlesbrough
Visiting Wag Team Carolyn and Pippa visit Mrs Carole C in North Shields
Gareth and Lola visit Mr Bill S in Darlington
Natasha and Reiver visit Mrs Sylvia W in Newcastle
Visiting Wag Team Carolyn and Pippa visit Mr & Mrs T in North Tyneside
Visiting Wag Team Helen and Toby visit Mrs Joan G in North Tyneside
Visiting Wag Team Janet and Islay visit Mrs Sandra C in Stockton on Tees
Visiting Wag Team Brooke and Rocky visit Mrs Vera S near Sunderland
Visiting Wag Team Louise and Bronte visit Mrs Sylvia A in Durham
Visiting Wag Team Carol, David and Poppy Twiby visit Mr & Mrs M in Middlesbrough
Visiting Wag Team Cheryl and Alfie visit Mr B in Whitley Bay
Visiting Wag Team Karen and Seren visit Miss R in Durham
Visiting Wag Team Jane and Andra visit Mr and Mrs G in Redcar
Visiting Wag Team Anita and Harry visit Mrs P in Sunderland
Visiting Wag Team Catherine and Dotty visit Mrs Janet D in Stockton-On-Tees
Visiting Wag Team Judith and Verdi visit Mrs Freda H in Redcar
Visiting Wag Team Eileen and Ruby visit Mrs Judith W in Redcar
Visiting Wag Team Hannah and Floyd visit Mrs Leonie B in Stockton
Visiting Wag Team Michael and Max visit Mr Jim S in Redcar
Visiting Wag Team Brooke and Harry visit Mrs Ida C near Blyth
Visiting Wag Team Louise and Friendship Dog Bronte visit Mrs Ella M in Sunderland.
Visiting Wag Team Mike and Friendship Dog Fable visit Mr Dave M in Sunderland.
Visiting Wag Team Steph and Friendship Dog Finn visit John in Ayresome Court near Stockton on Tees.
Visiting Wag Team Jan and Friendship Dog Teddy visit Mrs Edith A near Newcastle upon Tyne.
Visiting Wag Team Lesley and Friendship Dog Hallie visit Mrs Joyce T in North Tyneside
Visiting Wag Team Sarah and her Friendship Dog Marley visit Mrs Doreen F in Sunderland.
Visiting Wag Team Janet and Islay visit Mrs Yvonne H in Stockton-on-Tees.
Visiting Wag Team Dawn and Steed visit Mrs Alison S in Stockton!
Visiting Wag Team Gemma and Stanley visit Mr David T in North Tyneside!
Visiting Wag Team Catherine and Dotty visit Mr & Mrs G in Middlesbrough!
Visiting Wag Team Steven, Lisa and Alfie visit Mrs Molly P in Sunderland!
Visiting Wag Team, Lynne and Spud visit Mr Jimmy S in Gateshead!
Visiting Wag Team Paul and Max visit Mr Denis W in Gateshead
Lynn and Betty visit Mrs Betty E in Durham
Visiting Wag Team Gabi and Coco visit Mrs Dorothy K in North Tyneside
Visiting Wag Team Ellie, Rebecca and Ruby visit Ron in Middlesbrough
Visiting Wag Team, Steve and Mungo, visit Mr Anthony Haslock in his own home near Stockton on Tees.
Visiting Wag Team, Beth and Callie, visit the Akenside and Castleside Wards at the Campus for Ageing & Vitality in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Visiting Wag Team, Steph and Cherry, visit Mr & Mrs Terrey in their own home near Brampton.
Visiting Wag Team, Alison and Zorro, visit Mrs Pauline Roxburgh in her own home in Newcastle.
Visiting Wag Team, Becky and Hugo, visit Mr Terry Carberry in his own home in Stockton on Tees.
Visiting Wag Team Baxter and Julie visit Woodhorn Park Care Home in Ashington.
Visiting Wag Team, Judith and Teddy, visit Mrs Marjorie Blackett near Consett.
Visiting Wag Team, Gail and Cosmo visit Mrs Carole Nicholson in her own home in Newcastle.
Visiting Wag Team, Eileen and Ruby visiting Mr Ray Little in Middlesbrough.
Visiting Wag Team, Miriam and Nula visit Mr Rob Lambie in Newcastle.
Visiting Wag Team Lynne and Spud visit Mr George Rennison in Durham.
Visiting Wag Team, Anita and Harry, visit Gordon & Gwen in Sunderland
Visiting Wag Team, Lynne and Spud, visit Jim in Newcastle
Visiting Wag Team, Karen and Woody, visit Wendy and Tom in Newcastle.
Visiting Wag Team, Stephanie and Alfie, visit Doreen in Yarm
Visiting Wag Team, Marilyn and Ted, visit Tom in Lynemouth
Visiting Wag Team, Sharon and Millie visit Winnie in Newcastle
Rest in Peace, Mrs Jane Stobbart, who so loved her Friendship Dog, Max.
Oscar granting a last request at St Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham.
Visiting Wag Team, Liz and Milly visit Norman in Prudhoe
Visiting Wag Team Debi and Poppy visit Joan in Newcastle City
Visiting Wag Team Gemma and Bentley visit Lynn in Killingworth
Visiting Wag Team Olivia and Kobe visit Ella near Durham City
Visiting Wag Team, Terry and Dotty visit Eddie in Bishop Auckland
Visiting Wag Team Rachel and Ballet visit Ron and Cath in Cramlington
Home visits
Providing vulnerable people with access to a dog and a friend again, wherever they are, is a very important thing to do. But our home placements are especially important because without us, there is no other similar charity to visit and they would miss out terribly.
Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust refer to us and Julie Leddy, part of their Support Planning team said:
“Referring to Wag & Company is a great way for older people, who would struggle with the day-to-day responsibilities of caring for a dog, to have contact with a dog and friendship with its owner. In simple terms, loneliness and isolation are bad for people’s health, particularly older people. With levels of loneliness among older people high, and forecast to rise, it is our duty as health professionals to open up opportunities for greater social interaction to help people to stay well at home and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.”