A group of local people with learning disabilities are set to enjoy chicken therapy this month.
Speak Out will host its second chicken therapy event at the Brighthelm Centre on Tuesday 28 May 2024, after last year’s event inspired a mental health boost for members.
The charity hopes to inspire more people to make use of their free advocacy services through the event.
At the first event last year, members of Speak Out were extremely proud of themselves for interacting with them because while chickens are very comfortable around humans, people are much less used to interacting with them.
A statement from Speak Out said: “Last year, the organisers received a text from one of the drop-in members saying that the chicken therapy session had been the first day they had laughed in a long time.
“Speak Out are hoping this year’s visit will prove just as meaningful for members, and also that it will attract new members to use their free advocacy services.
“We’re worried that a lot of people who became isolated during the lockdowns are still going without the support or social connection they need, so we are trying to think creatively to get people in the doors.”
Local resident Mark Smith trained his seven chickens and two ducks to become therapy animals and ran his first session with Speak Out last year.
The charity has hosted similar art and dog therapy sessions to support members to talk about difficult topics, create new experiences, and help them think differently.
The charity say that people with learning disabilities are more than twice as likely to live with a mental illness than the general population, and that many of the approximately 6,000 people with learning disabilities in Brighton and Hove do not receive any support.
For more than 30 years, Speak Out’s weekly drop in sessions for people with learning disabilities helps to facilitate community connections and group advocacy, outside of people’s families or paid care.
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