We know you have all been patiently waiting for us to allow owners back into donation sessions. Thank you for your understanding while we have navigated our way through making this possible. We are very pleased to say that we will soon begin the process of gradually allowing you back into donation sessions with your dogs.
This will be a roll out, starting with a small number of our donation sessions and expanding from there. It takes into consideration the rules of the venues we work with and the size of the rooms we work in to ensure we can comfortably have protective measures in place to safely accommodate you, your dog, and our team. We are very happy to be starting this process and hopefully inviting you all back over the coming months.
To facilitate this, we will have certain safety measures in place that we ask you to follow. These mean we can continue to protect our team and the vital blood supply while welcoming you back into our sessions.
If you attend a venue where owners are being invited back in, to come inside you must:
- Have carried out a lateral flow test 12-24 hours prior to the session with a negative result
- Wear a face mask which we will provide
- Wear a visor which we will provide
- Maintain a one metre social distance from our team members wherever possible
- Use hand sanitiser as instructed by our team
- Follow all instructions given by our team during the donation process
- Only one owner per dog(s) will be allowed inside
- Wait in your car until a member of our team comes to collect you
As before, please continue to cancel your appointment with us if:
- You are showing any symptoms
- You have been asked to self-isolate
- Are awaiting the results of a PCR test
Only owners who are happy and able to follow these guidelines will be permitted to come into our donation sessions at this time.
In some instances, it may be the case that your dog manages better without you being present. If this is the case, our team will discuss this with you to decide how to manage future donation sessions. If your dog has only ever donated without you, we are happy to welcome you in so you can see the process and what happens. We can then determine if your dog would be best to donate with or without you present. As always, your dog’s welfare is our absolute priority.
Having volunteer support at sessions is another thing that will enable us to make it possible for owners to come inside at more venues. This is because volunteers will play a vital role in managing the flow of owners in and out of the sessions. Some of our venues still need volunteers to come forward. So, to allow us to bring back all owners sooner, please consider asking your friends and family if they would be interested in supporting us by volunteering. Visit our volunteering page to find out more.
We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding during the pandemic and hope you will support us as we now start moving towards the next level of normality within our donation sessions. If you attend a venue where it is not yet possible for us to allow owners in, we ask that you respect this and know we are doing our best to make it possible across all venues for owners to come in.
We also ask that you wait for us to contact you about whether you will be allowed in at your dog’s next appointment, or if you would like to book an appointment in light of these changes. We have a very small team and will be working through each session individually. Waiting for us to contact you means we will be able to get to everyone quicker and start getting you all back in.
Thank you.
