Pets As Therapy (PAT)

National charity providing free volunteer-led therapy dog and cat visits, including the Read2Dogs scheme for children’s confidence and literacy

Who It’s For: Children and young people of all ages across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — accessed through schools, hospitals, hospices, and other settings rather than direct family self-referral. Particularly valuable for children who are anxious, struggling with reading, in hospital, or who would benefit from calm, non-judgemental animal contact.

What They Offer: PAT is a long-established national charity whose volunteers, with their own temperament-assessed dogs and cats, visit schools, hospitals, hospices, care homes and community settings to bring comfort, companionship and a sense of calm. Within schools, their best-known programme is Read2Dogs, where children read aloud to a friendly, attentive dog — an approach shown to reduce stress and anxiety, increase school attendance, build confidence, and improve reading and writing levels. Beyond schools, PAT teams also visit children’s hospital wards and hospices, offering moments of joy and normality during difficult times.

Support Includes:

• Regular visits from a PAT volunteer and their dog or cat to a child’s school, set up on an ongoing basis (e.g. weekly)
• The Read2Dogs scheme — children read one-to-one to a calm therapy dog in a relaxed, pressure-free environment to build reading confidence and reduce classroom anxiety
• Visits to children’s wards, hospices and other care settings to provide comfort and companionship to unwell children and their families
• Support for children’s broader social and emotional wellbeing — boosting self-esteem, easing isolation, and encouraging positive social interaction

Referral / Access: This is a free service — there’s no charge to the school, hospital, hospice or family. Access is via the setting itself: a school, hospital, hospice or other establishment registers interest through the “Request a visit” form on the PAT website, and PAT works with its volunteer community to match a suitable PAT Team to the location. Visits can typically take a few weeks to a few months to arrange, depending on volunteer availability in the local area. Parents wanting this for their child can encourage their child’s school, or ask hospital/hospice staff, to register with PAT directly. For enquiries relating to Scotland or Northern Ireland, there’s a dedicated regional hub email.

Why This Matters: For a child who finds reading stressful, who’s anxious about school, or who’s spending time on a hospital ward, the simple presence of a calm, friendly dog can make an enormous difference — offering comfort without judgement and a sense of normality when things feel anything but normal. Knowing that this kind of support exists, completely free, and that it’s as simple as asking a school or hospital to get in touch with PAT, can be a small but meaningful thing for parents to hold onto.

Email: [email protected] (Scotland & Northern Ireland: [email protected])