Join us at Stepney City Farm on Monday 13th June, 10:00-15:00 for our first Green Care Peer Learning event, supported by LEEF – London’s Environmental Educators Forum.

The day is aimed at anyone with an interest in green care – perhaps you have knowledge of a particular user group and their needs, you may be an expert in seed sowing, or just keen to see more non-human life in your organisation… Whether you are a provider of care or part of a project delivering animal or nature-based activities, this is an opportunity to meet and share experiences and ideas.

Project Manager of Furry Tales, Ione will be sharing findings from her recent Churchill Fellowship, with case studies of animal-assisted projects she visited in the USA and Israel. This will be followed by two sharing circles, one centred around animal-assisted or nature-based activity ideas and one around collaboration with the NHS. Please come with some thoughts or ideas for these, you do not necessarily need to have direct experience of either but at least a question or insight to offer.

The event is free but booking is essential. Further information can be found on the Green Care Peer Learning flyer.

On 28th February 2015 we came to the end of our 6 month NHS social prescriptions pilot. Funded by NHS Tower Hamlets CCG, we worked with 5 GP surgeries, 3 care homes and 2 day care centres to deliver 16 therapeutic animal-handling and nature-based sessions to 86 Tower Hamlets’ residents aged 60+, exceeding our target by over 50%.

The project was a real success and we have learnt much from running it, which we are now keen to put to use developing the next stages of Furry Tales.

To find out about more about the project’s achievements, outcomes and lessons learned, read our final report and let us know what you think!

NHS Tower Hamlets CCG Final Report

Over the past few months, Furry Tales’ NHS Tower Hamlets CCG funded social prescriptions project has attracted a lot of attention from the media. In case you missed any of it, find out what we’ve been up to in the links below…

The Guardian: Why GPs are prescribing animal handling sessions for older people – Anita Pati

Pulse: GPs refer vulnerable elderly to handle furry animals – Caroline Price

The Wharf: Ione hatches plan for animal magic – Rachel Bishop

We were one of the five lucky projects to be awarded an Innovation Bursary grant from NHS Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group. Starting September 2014, this 6 month fund will allow us to pilot a social prescriptions scheme for local elders, receiving referrals from local GP surgeries and day care centres and delivering outreach sessions to nearby residential homes.

GPs from the Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership and local day care centres will be encouraged to refer patients or members aged 60+ who they feel may be suffering from loneliness, isolation or depression. Referrals will be invited to Furry Tales sessions at Stepney City Farm, where they can enjoy getting to know a variety of animals and people. We will also be engaging two new residential homes, Pat Shaw House and Peter Shore Court, taking our team of volunteers and animals to build essential relationships with local elders.

We are delighted to feature in the Guardian’s online healthcare network, read all about it!