University students volunteering to walk dogs

Volunteers from the University of Exeter are walking dogs for members of the community

The University of Exeter has started a dog-walking project under which university students walk dogs for people in the community who are unable to walk their dog themselves.

They have had more than 100 volunteers but only five dog owners have joined so far so the university is hoping more owners will come forward.

The Exeter students guild said students could volunteer in pairs and choose when, how often and which dogs they would want to walk.

Lewis Hartley, the dog-walking co-ordinator and a student, said he hope the scheme could help students with homesickness and provide a service for the local community.

A government study from September 2023 found that loneliness is experienced by 92% of students.

Prof Edward Watkins, a professor in experimental and applied clinical psychology, said: "We know that loneliness and isolation is often a problem for students and building student wellbeing is really important and one of the key things to do that is to build up connections and community initiatives and this sounds like a really good example of that."

"It really does help my mental wellbeing," said student Kate Angus, who has been walking a dog called Bertie on a weekly basis.

She walks Bertie with fellow student Ella Desmond, who told BBC Radio Devon: "I miss my dog a lot so he brings me a lot of joy."

'It's fantastic'

Bertie's owner, Gary Abrahams, said: "It’s one of those rare win-win situations, it's wonderful for Bertie, my dog, because he gets to walk and he can walk all day.

"It’s fantastic for me because I get to work and not have him under my desk."

He said the scheme was fantastic for students and beneficial to everyone involved.