A pet project for teens
The Leader is running a series of profiles on activities for youths in the region. This week we talk to the ARK.
The ARK is a charity which works with troubled young people and previously unwanted/rescued dogs. Pickering, covering dog body language and child safety around dogs combined with a dog display and dog interaction and training. This was very successful and there have been requests for the group to run further programmes in the future.
Members of the group also go into rest homes with some of the rescue dogs which have come through the course as well as going into schools to help with the Ark’s APART programme.
And fundraising is a large and necessary part of what we do.
The group has recently run a successful fundraising project which culminated in a clothing sale at the Richmond Town Hall raising funds for a dog training shelter. Some of the group are also using the project as part of a programme which will gain them unit standards in youth leadership.
Aside from all this, the group has a regular monthly planning meeting and social get togethers. Many parents will be thinking – ‘‘Oh no, two weeks of children being at home, whatever are we going to do all day?’’
Instead see them as some valuable time when you really have some fun with your children.
To take the stress out of the time the children are home each day, here are a few ideas:
Sit down and have a planning session with all the children:
Set some rules for ideas; they need to be inexpensive or no cost, each child gets to choose three activities.
Make a plan which has one activity each day that you can all do together.
Part of the plan could be that you all work together around the house in the morning, either cleaning or playing and in the afternoon you do the activity you have planned.
The person who decided on the activity for that day has the say on the way things happen for that activity.