Local fiduciary and fund services specialist, Abacus, have donated over ?1300 to Paws For Therapy (Isle of Man), a charity which provides therapeutic and rehabilitation services through animals.
The Douglas based company presented the Isle of Man registered charity (no. 993) with a cheque for the sum of ?1,377 last week after it was chosen as their latest charity of the quarter.
Paws For Therapy, which was formed in 2007, arranges for registered and assessed animals to carry out therapeutic visits to hospices, nursing, residential and care homes, day care centres, special needs units and schools, mainstream schools and other establishments working with children. They also assist in the psychological enhancement and improvement of people who have experienced some sort of trauma or who are suffering from anxiety and worry.
Mary Sims, Chairman and Volunteer of Paws For Therapy said: “On behalf of Paws For Therapy, I would sincerely like to thank Abacus for their generous donation, which will go a long way to assisting us in continuing the work that we do for people on the Island.
In the last 8 years we have grown to 29 members and 35 animals working for the charity. All of our animals are the personal pets of our volunteers and undergo a thorough assessment involving a number of tests to ensure the suitability of the animal’s temperament and attitude for this type of work
“Working with physical problems from debilitating illnesses such as strokes, or injury, as well as psychological problems, Paws For Therapy animals, in addition to providing psychological benefits, also provide a physical incentive and motivation to encourage movement just that little bit further to aid rehabilitation. Sometimes it is speech that may have been affected and this has also been proven to be helped by Paws For Therapy animals, sometimes with the first word uttered with sense being their therapy animal’s name.
Abacus Director, Emer Dowling said: “We are delighted to support Paws For Therapy as our latest quarter charity; they are certainly a charity with a difference, however like many of the newer and smaller charities they often don’t get the exposure or support that they deserve.
“I was very interested to hear about the range of services they offer to people on the Isle of Man as well as some of their recent rehabilitation successes but more significantly of the level of commitment from their volunteers; from the thorough assessment process both them and their pets must complete, to the amount of time they give to provide such valuable services.
“On behalf of Abacus, I wish them every success for the future and thank them for their hard work and the support they provide to people young and old across the Island. It was a pleasure to meet some of the team… especially the animals.”
The funds were raised through the company’s ongoing Charity Staff Salary Deduction Scheme, in which staff can donate a set amount from their salary each month. The total at the end of each quarter is matched by the company and added to any money raised from additional ad hoc fundraising initiatives undertaken, before being donated to a local charity chosen by the firm’s staff.
Photo - L-R Back - Pamela Kelly (Paws For Therapy), Emer Dowling (Abacus), Lorraine Boyd (Abacus), Mary Sims (Paws For Therapy), L-R Front : Paws For Therapy dogs Digger and Daisy.
