College therapy dog continues his paw-some work in the community

The calendar features Freddie, the College’s loveable labradoodle therapy dog. He comes to college every day and works with students who are anxious, worried or upset.  

The calendars were created to raise money to help a young boy called Max have a therapy dog of his own. 

Max was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the summer of 2020 and benefits from the support of a therapy dog to ease his stress and anxiety. 

Max was matched with an Italian Spinone puppy called Harry, who was one of six puppies originally fostered by the Lincoln College Group, which includes Newark College. Through their unique partnership with Autism Dogs CIC, the College has fostered six puppies over the last year to help their development and to socialise them with young people before they return to Autism Dogs CIC for further training. 

The College were keen to help Max’s family – who needed to raise nearly £10,000 to bring Harry to live with them. 

Three copies of the Freddie calendar were signed by the stars of ‘Newark, Newark,’ Mathew Horne, Nadia Wadia, and Morgana Robinson while they were filming at Newark College and members of the public were invited to bid to get their hands on one.  

Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous source, one of these calendars has been gifted to a local charity, the Children’s Bereavement Centre. They are planning a giveaway of their own to raise further awareness of the campaign.  

Altogether through donations and calendar sales the College has raised over £400. Max’s family have now reached their fundraising target and Harry will be going to live with them in February. 

Rachel Wilson, Children’s Bereavement Centre Fundraising Manager, said: “It was a privilege to be invited to the College to meet Freddie and to learn all about his role as a therapy dog and how he helps the students on campus. 

“The calendar featuring Freddie’s photo is lovely and the fact that it’s raising funds to help Max have a therapy dog of his own is amazing. To then have a copy signed by some of the cast from ‘Newark, Newark’ is the icing on the cake. 

“As a charity that supports children and young people that have been traumatised we understand the role a therapy dog can play in supporting and helping to improve wellbeing. The fact that Newark College have access to this resource is incredible for their students. Hopefully, we will be able to invite Freddie to come to one of our family groups or workshops in the future so some of the families we support can benefit as well.”