How We’re Making a Difference

Penny’s Story

 “My daughter Penny attended The Hug Foundations recently and she absolutely loved it there. Hazel the Youth Well-Being Manager was wonderful with her. Penny is non-verbal, visually impaired and unable to stand independently. Hazel adapted the sessions to suit Penny perfectly offering time with the various animals and sensory sessions too. Our sessions at Hugs were definitely the highlight of our week. Seeing Penny laughing, dancing and even making animal sounds to express her enjoyment was just incredible. Thank you to Hazel and everyone at Hugs for making this possible.”

From Penny’s mum

Emma’s Story (name changed to protect our service users identity)

My daughter never had the closure of leaving primary school thanks to covid. She didn’t have any settling in visits in secondary school and when she did start it was all with heavy rules and much separation of classes and year groups again due to covid. I don’t think this generation of children were really considered when the lockdowns were imposed. It had lots of knock-on effects and I know many children around my daughters age (14 now) who are also suffering anxiety and maybe even depression.

My daughter (let’s call her Emma) was already suffering from anxiety that was stopping her enjoying life, particularly school life, when her two best friends dropped out of school and eventually transferred to a new one. She was left without a friendship group and while the school did try to help they were overwhelmed with similar students on a daily basis. We were being called in to pick her up from the well-being centre and there were many other kids having panic attacks and unable to cope. This got worse, no matter what we tried and we did try everything we and the school could think of. It became so that Emma was hysterically crying before school, having to be physically dragged and manhandled to go there and after a few hours being called to come pick her up as she was inconsolable. She was getting no work done and at home she begged to be home schooled as she had been in lockdown. We resisted and used bribery, threats, being nice, being hard but nothing worked. We looked into home schooling and felt that Emma wasn’t getting any education the way she was going on and home education would be better than nothing.

We looked around for any kind of counselling or therapy we could get for Emma to help her through whatever she was experiencing and found The Hugs Foundation online. They offer support and therapy to young people experiencing difficulties with their mental or emotional health, amongst other things. Emma was lucky enough to get a 6 week course, fully funded. This has been one hour a week on the farm with a well-being intervention support worker.

Hugs has two parts to their work; they rescue and rehome animals, such as horses, ponies (including those set to be culled on Bodmin moor), goats, pigs, chickens, guinea pigs etc. some have been abused and some are abandoned. All get an amazing new chance at life with some awesome facilities. The rescued animals are tended to by staff and volunteers and the children go along and get involved with their care. Emma was almost completely non-verbal by the time we got her there. She wouldn’t speak for days on end and would get upset if we pushed her to talk. Being with the Hugs workers and animals she relaxed and her focus was taken away from her issues as she was told about each animals background and given the opportunity to spend time with her favourite ones each week. She’s fed, groomed and walked ponies and goats, helped out feeding the pigs and had cuddles with her favourite guinea pig, Frankie. We’ve sponsored two of her other favourite animals, a donkey and a pony called Oscar and Dude, who are best friends. Dude goes out to nursing homes to see the residents and brings much joy to them too! Emma has also painted some horse shoes and drawn one of the horses. She really enjoyed the art side of being there. I since found out that not only did they know Emma enjoys art (they asked a lot about her before she arrived) but they do this with a lot of the children and young people to help them express their feelings and learn coping mechanism.

After each session Emma is more talkative, noticeably happier and relaxed. As we are coming to the end of these sessions we were worried about what will happen next, they have helped Emma so much and made life better for all of us as a family. We are delighted that they have offered us further sessions to continue these positive changes. They are also rescuing and rehoming animals so it’s completely win-win. They are completely reliant on charitable donations and with the cost of everything, especially hay, going up, they need peoples help more than ever to continue to do the work they do. We have bought some Christmas cards, a 2023 calendar and sponsored two animals to help a little. It’s completely worth it for the work they do. They’re just amazing.

Rosie’s Story (name changed to protect our service users identity)

Rosie’s story begins with a difficult and challenging family relationship, which leads to incidents of abuse in her childhood.  Consequently, Rosie spirals into depression and starts to severely self-harm.  Rosie hits crisis, attempts suicide several times and spends 6 months in a secure psychiatric unit.

At the beginning of 2019, Rosie starts well-being interventions with Hugs.  She develops a special bond with a rescue horse who is also on her journey to recovery after being beaten with a hammer.  The two seem to have a mutual understanding of the trauma they had faced and began healing together.

With the help of the team and rescue horses at Hugs, Rosie’s confidence and self-esteem grows, she develops her life skills and even independently seeks voluntary work.  Her tendency to self-harm diminishes, along with her suicidal thoughts.  In September 2019, she enrolls on a Health and Social Care course to pursue her chosen career as a Social Worker, with the end goal of being able to help children and young people who are struggling with similar experiences to her own.  The rescue horse’s confidence also grow and in 2020, she finds her forever home.

Dr. Helen Reynolds Senior Clinical Psychologist, on behalf of East Cornwall CAMHS

Myself and several of my colleagues have had the pleasure of working alongside The Hugs Foundation in our work with some of the young people that we see in CAMHS. These opportunities have been invaluable. Our young people have learnt new skills, had the opportunity to try out new activities within a nurturing, scaffolded environment, and been able to forge new relationships from which they can push their own barriers and grow. The program has been brilliantly flexible, allowing each young person to start from a position in which they feel comfortable (e.g. creating artwork opportunities), through which they then feel confident enough to try new tasks that they were initially too hesitant to try (e.g. grooming).

In addition to the on-site work, incredible liaison from staff (e.g. through Care Planning Review meetings, Team around the Child meetings and Child Protection Conferences) has meant that these positive developments can then be reflected on and built on in the clinic setting, enabling our therapeutic work to strengthen and develop more intensely. The openness to working with all mental health presentations and flexibility in reducing barriers to accessing services (e.g. working alongside young people with high risk behaviours) has been exceptionally helpful. Thank you for an invaluable program. We have very much valued your involvement with our young people and would be keen for you to support as many more as possible. Our young people have very much echoed the benefit that they have gained from participating at Hugs and always look forward to their next session.

Ellie’s Story (name changed to protect our service users identity)

Ellie completed her 6-week course with Hugs and what a difference it made! Ellie had a very difficult year last year, the one thing that she loves in life the most (horses), was taken away from her very abruptly. She was on an equine diploma course and doing really well, but sadly her neck condition deteriorated very quickly resulting in major spinal surgery, numerous hospital stays and life for Ellie coming to a standstill. Ellie’s well-being changed dramatically, her mood was very low, she didn’t want to go out and she became very quiet, which concerned me greatly. She lost interest in everything.

Then I discovered The Hugs Foundation and after just one session there Ellie blossomed. She started to smile again, chatting about the ponies and the wonderful staff. Each week she came home, I could see that I was getting the old Ellie back.

All the hard work the staff and the animals put in at the Hugs (or Huggles as Ellie calls it) has made a real difference and I can’t thank you all enough. You do an amazing job and long may this continue so that other young people can benefit like Ellie has, thank you again.

From Ellie’s mum

Amber – What I’ve gained from Hugs sessions (name changed to protect our service users identity)

Over the 6 weeks I attended Hugs, I have given a horse a bath, I led goats, helped desensitised two of their newest horses, held guinea pigs, groomed some horses, plaited horses and learnt some more stuff about horses I didn’t know before. Overall I enjoyed myself at Hugs over the 6 weeks and I would like to attend another session with Hugs as everyone was really lovely to be around. All the animals made me smile all the time and I would recommend going to Hugs to anyone. From Amber xx

From Amber’s parent

Dear Hazel and all at Hugs,

Thank you so much for the well-being sessions that my daughter attended from 28/07/21-01/09/21 they were extremely beneficial, helpful and stimulating. Amber has been struggling with her mental health over the last two years which unfortunately has resulted in Amber feeling very anxious and self-harming. When we looked for support from CAMHS they suggested we contact The Hugs Foundation as you offered well-being sessions. As Amber has a passion for horses and would like to work in the equine industry we thought this was a really good idea.

Going to Hugs over the summer holidays has given Amber a real purpose. It has given her something to focus on and lots to think about she has made new friends, met some lovely people, horses and animals. Amber has been able to have closure on a really bad experience she has had in the past as she was able to have contact with some rescued horses that she already knew and thought she would never see again. Amber has learnt some new skills and it has helped Amber feel less anxious, gain a little bit of independence and feel happy about herself. Thanks again for your support.

James’s Story (name changed to protect our service users identity)

After years of struggling with chronic anxiety, being unable to attend mainstream school and being failed by traditional strategies, James found Hugs. James has complex emotional difficulties. He is probably autistic, although is still awaiting a diagnosis. He struggles with social interactions and everyday activities and, following failed interventions by various agencies, he has serious trust issues with people, especially adults. He is also exploring his gender. He discovered a love of horses several years ago whilst on holiday on Exmoor. Shortly afterwards James deteriorated and entered a period where he was unable to leave the house, becoming isolated and fearful. In a bid to coax him out, he began having riding lessons, which he continues to do. Being around the horses is beneficial for him, but he still struggles with the busy environment of the stables and the expectations of formal lessons. He doesn’t always feel able to attend. He is still unable to attend school. Hugs is different. His mum has noted that she can see positive changes in him following every session.

James struggles with communication and they generally travel to the sessions in silence, as he prefers this. When he comes out from his sessions he is always beaming. He’ll get into the car and after a few moments he’ll begin to tell his mum what he’s been doing, what antics the animals have been up to (he loves Piglet as well as the horses), and what he’s looking forward to next time. His mum struggles to get a word in edgeways! He is also beginning to open up about other things at home which is a huge leap forward for him.

His mum has commented “The sessions at Hugs are run by amazing staff who genuinely put the children at the heart of everything they do. There is no hidden agenda and no pressure on James. He is treated with respect and included in all decision making, allowing him to feel in control of the sessions. He trusts Hazel and Nicki and they are restoring his trust in adults. He is turning a corner, and even making tentative steps towards a return to school. Sadly, his initial sessions have come to an end, but he cannot wait to return later in the year. Thank you Hugs. Having tried every other avenue over the last four years, you were my last hope and you haven’t disappointed. We still have a long road to travel, but I can finally see my son making progress.”