Children from a Horwich nursery paid a special visit to a care home to share their love for pets.

Residents at St Catherine's Care Home were joined by children from Moorlands Day Nursery to spend the morning with some four-legged friends to celebrate National Pet Day.

Poppywood Alpacas brought Dobby, Marmalade, and Piglet in to meet everyone at the care home.

Resident Derek Latham said: “Well that was different. I couldn’t believe it when the alpacas arrived, they’re the last thing I would have expected to walk through the door.

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Fellow resident Irene Payne added: “It was a wonderful day and I loved meeting and stroking all the animals.”

Home manager, Gillian Johnson’s granddaughter, Belle, also brought in her two tortoises, named Elvis and Priscill,a and gave a talk about how she looks after them.

Many of the residents remembered having tortoises in their younger days so it was a lovely trip down memory lane for them.

Belle explained that tortoise shells have nerve endings so they can feel it when they are touched, which prompted residents to all want to stroke them.

The Bolton News: The care home’s "Magic Moments" coordinator, Cara Daley, said: “We often arrange for animals to come and visit our residents at St Catherine's, many of whom used to have their own pets.

“Spending time with animals has many benefits, particularly for older people, and contributes hugely to their emotional well-being.

“Everyone has been talking about the visit for days now and asking when the animals will next visit, so hopefully, we’ll see them again very soon.”

St Catherine’s Care Home is located on Queen Street and provides residential, nursing, palliative and dementia care. 

The home is rated "good" by healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission.

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