Oh what a champ. So he can even calmly let you know when he's had enough. Brilliant.

good thinking Bengie .. lol

he's so sweet,good on you and him,jobs well done,dorothy

Bengie @ Hexham Priory School - Week 6

We are well settled into a routine now and Bengie's visits are looked forward to by so many of the children that, as one staff member put it, 'We could do with a Bengie in residence!'

I'd love to do another day but Bengie is quite elderly and it is tiring for him. I think it best to do fewer, quality hours. I am quite in awe of those who visit multiple venues and multiple times a week. That's one hell of a commitment.

J (the little boy who was so enamoured with Bengie last week) got really excited when we went into his classroom. He could hardly wait for Bengie to be introduced to the rest of the class and when we told him he could walk Bengie around the classroom and out into the play area he was delighted. If you could see his face as he walks Bengie. It is a picture of delight.

lovely to hear the difference Bengie is making,

agree one day is more than enough, more quality than quantity come's to mind.

Suzanne

lovely picture , what a gorgeous boy ( the canine one ! ) good for you..

He's actually a cross between a Black Lab and a Golden Retriever (notice the bridfled legs in the photo above?)

But yes, I am a complete sucker for a black lab - every time.

What a lovely thing to do Paul with your dog.

I think our Harvey would have been very suitable for that job - I just never thought of it.
Now he's fourteen and a half, going deaf with cataracts, and an extremely smelly character, but he still
has the sweetest nature, gentle, placid, non aggressive and just loves humans.

Gogs

Yes a calm nature is essential. Bengie is getting a little old now too (12 1/4) so we are limiting him to one visit per week. It's very tiring for him, he sleeps like a log when he gets home

Bengie @ Hexham Priory School - Week 9

We had to turn up early this week to talk to the local newspaper so the kids were still in the playground when we arrived. You should have heard the excited calls of 'Hello Bengie!' as we walked past the fence. Even kids who we don't see during our sessions were calling out

So, yes the local newspaper. They contacted our area coordinator about doing a feature on the local activity of the PAT organisation. So we had a chat about Bengie and his work, and they took loads of photos of the good ol' boy doing his stuff. J, an autistic non-verbal boy who adores Bengie and loves taking him for walks, was asked whether he would walk him while the photographer snapped away. Needless to say he needed no prompting.

The article will appear in a quarterly features magazine that will be out in June. I am going to talk to our local Waitrose to see if we can get PAT to be one their green token charities at the same time to see if we can raise some much needed funds for them.