The Little Explorers is an autism friendly activity club that offers Animal Assisted Therapy. We have created a safe and understanding environment to have fun and socialise with other families. https://thelittleexplorersactivityclub.com

- £5 buys a bale of hay which will feed the animals for one day

- £5 for bedding for one day

The main beneficiary groups are children on the autistic spectrum and their families, carers, people with mental health difficulties and people with disabilities.

The age ranges from young children to their parents and grandparents. We are addressing the following issues – education, training, respite, health & wellbeing, rural/agricultural, arts & culture, social isolation and a stronger community/cohesion.

Animal Therapy is very successful with anxiety, Autism, ADD, ADHD, depression and many other conditions. It has been seen to lower blood pressure, help concentration, calm anxiety and builds confidence.

Interacting with animals increases attention spans and has a positive calming effect helping with social interaction.

Animals also offer a powerful multi-sensory stimulus, they provide spontaneous behavioural responses which are simple and easy for children to interpret. With the release of endorphins (oxytocin) that have a calming effect for children and young people that struggle with emotional dysregulation helping the children and young people we work with to restructure their emotional response, thus access whole brain learning. This is done through physical and emotional experiences with the animals, engaging the sensitive limbic region of the brains mammalian centre and the automatic nervous system.

This all provides non-stressful, non-judgmental environment and increases self-confidence.

As you can imagine the running costs of a charity with 3 ponies, 2 goats, 2 rabbits, 1 cat, fish and 2 gerbils isn't cheap. The ponies alone eat a bale of hay a day and that costs £5. The weekly cost of hay and bedding is £65 for all of the animals. To keep our charity running and the families supported we rely on donations. Any help no matter how small it seems to you is deeply appreciated and money well spent. We can offer a tailored approach to vulnerable individual families and their children providing a unique therapeutic environment for them to learn.