Animal-assisted therapy

At Wee Critters we aim to make our experience as inclusive as possible. We offer specialised experiences and animal-assisted therapy sessions for vulnerable adults, children with accessibility requirements and charity groups.

Meeting our Wee Critters can have many physiological and psychological benefits. Our sessions aim to deliver a sensory experience which encourages learning, expression of emotions and promotes relaxation.

We offer discounted rates for care homes, residential facilities, assisted living facilities, day centres, charities and hard to reach members of our community.

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Allan the Explorer has completed a range of training to make our service as accessible and enjoyable as possible.

Diploma in Zoo Animal Management (Sparsholt College)
Disability Awareness Training
Child Protection Training (level 2)
Safeguarding vulnerable adults training
Autism Awareness Training (provided by Autism NI)
Understanding the Autism Spectrum (Queens University)
Sensory Steps Training ASD Processing and Sensory Equipment Training
Sensory Loss Awareness Training (Sense NI)
JAM card training (Now Group)
Fully Access NI checked

Find out more about accessibility

A lady holding Arthur the armadillo and smiling at the camera.

A lady smiles at Kiki-Dee the Jenday conure while the parrot perches on her sleeve.

A gentleman smiles at Allan while he is introduced to Iggle the tenrec.

Angelo the Angolan python meeting residents at a local care home.

A gentleman looks at Kiki-Dee the Jenday conure while she perches on his hand.

A baby tortoise is pictured in the foreground of the photograph with a lady watching him.

An explorer meets Stuart Little at his group session.

A lady is shocked to meet Craig the cockroach who is sitting on her sleeve while a friend looks on.

A lady is pictured smiling at Arthur the armadillo who is rolled up in a ball.

Arthur the armadillo running across the floor while two ladies watch on in joy.

We have had Allan and his Wee Critters to the Day Service now on 5 occasions, with another 4 dates booked in! The Wee Critters display and Allan’s explorer attire sets the scene for an interactive and exploratory session. Our users absolutely love the sessions. Allan has such a variety of creatures, our users (and staff) love to hear all about them, to stroke them, hold them or watch from afar! Allan has such a lovely, gentle nature and great information and stories about his wee critters. He works so well with adults with learning disabilities and adults who can have poor mental health. Allan supports our users to be gentle and caring towards the animals and in turn this can have a calming effect on their day. Allan interacts with everyone, everyone gets a turn and he remembers everyone’s name, which is such a personal touch. We can’t wait for the next visit!’