Alpacas leave Northampton care home residents with smiles on their faces following special visit

Care home residents in Northampton were left with smiles on their faces after alpacas paid a visit.

Alpacas Malibu, Coco, Aurora and Anaire visited Collingtree Park Care Home on Monday August 15 to meet residents.

The furry visitors came with their keepers from Easton Way Farm who set up a pen with shade and water to keep them comfortable during their visit.

Stacey Horner activities coordinator at the care home said: “It was wonderful to see the delight on residents’ faces as they stroked these gentle visitors and fed them a seed mix the farm staff had brought with them.

“We learned lots of facts about our animal guests, which are part of the camel family. They are being fed hay and supplementary feed at the moment as there is not much grass due to the hot weather. They have had their coats trimmed to help them stay cool and we were given a bag of wool to touch for our sensory area.”

Residents, their families and staff enjoyed it so much that the home has invited the alpacas back again in September, October and November.

General manager Tomasz Grabowski added: “We knew the alpacas would be fun but it has been much more for our residential and dementia residents.

“We’ve seen smiles on the faces of people who don’t smile often, and their families said how pleased they are to see their parents looking so happy.

“It brought people outside who usually choose indoor activities, and everyone was still talking about it the next day. This was a therapeutic and fun experience.”