Monday 16th January, also known as “Blue Monday”, is said to be the most depressing day of the year, but at The Mayhew Animal Home we decided to brighten up this gloomy day and spread some joy to staff members at Bauer Radio and Hearst Magazines UK with visits from our gorgeous TheraPaws dogs.

Our TheraPaws dogs are a part of The Mayhew’s animal therapy visiting programme, which recognises the mutual benefits of animals engaging with people, particularly older people with dementia, helping to improve the relationships between humans and dogs. As well as enhancing people’s lives by helping to reduce social isolation, stress and unlocking memories and emotions, the initiative also helps animals by raising awareness of the positive effects dogs can have, including promoting respect and compassion towards animals.

During our first stop into Central London, our volunteers Nathania MacGregor with her dog Chloe and Helen Liu with her dog Java spent time meeting employees from Bauer Radio, a radio division of the Bauer Media Group, and the home to Absolute Radio, heat, KISS FM, Magic, and Kerrang!

All eyes were on our TheraPaws dogs when they arrived at Bauer Towers and they were quickly awarded with cuddles and big smiles from admirers from all different floors and radio stations.

Once our volunteers and their four-legged friends cheered up the DJ’s and staff members at Bauer Radio, we quickly made our way, joined by Sarah De Rozario with her dog Dudley, to Hearst, a UK magazine publishing company, whose brands include Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Reveal, Prima, and Good Housekeeping.

After spending a couple of hours in the first building, we were later joined by another group of dedicated TheraPaws volunteers, Deborah Taffler with her dog Noodle, Bill Thorp with his dog Tess, and Hannah Singer with her dog Luna, who all spent time meeting journalists and writers in Hearst’s second building.

Lisa Quinn, Director of Communications at Hearst Magazines UK, said: “The Mayhew Animal Home’s TheraPaws programme is a great initiative and the dogs were a lovely addition to our Blue Monday activity.”

“They were a big hit with our teams and we didn’t really want them to leave.”

Our volunteers and their dogs normally spread happiness when they go on regular visits to care homes, day centres, hospices and hospitals across 12 different London boroughs including Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Haringey. And with 76 volunteers and 59 dogs devoting their time to the scheme, and a total of 1103 TheraPaws visits made last year, our visiting animal therapy programme is growing from strength to strength.

Luke Berman, Project Manager, TheraPaws, said: “It was a terrific day. The volunteers and their dogs really enjoyed interacting with so many different people.”

“As we walked into the offices, people immediately stopped talking and working – all they wanted to do was come over and speak to our volunteers and their dogs. It’s clear to see that they bring a lot of joy and wellbeing to people.”

With all the greetings and requests for photos and cuddles throughout the day, our TheraPaws volunteers and their canine friends were ready for a well-deserved rest.

One thing is for sure, they definitely helped brighten up people’s Blue Monday!

To find out more about TheraPaws, then please visit our website or call 020 8962 8004. We rely entirely on generous donations from the public and don’t receive any lottery or government funding. To donate, please visit here.