North Hertfordshire College’s Supported Studies Multi Skills students have collaborated with Letchworth’s Woof N Wag doggy day-care to upcycle a bridge and build new equipment for their dog sensory garden!
Woof N Wag contacted the College to ask if our students wanted to help with a project to add more equipment to their garden and that would have a positive impact on the dogs. The company relies on volunteers and donations to refurbish their site, and our students were more than happy to put their learning to the test and meet the challenge.
The students visited Woof N Wag to check out their existing dog sensory garden and research pieces of equipment that the dogs would enjoy. The students found some brilliant ideas and narrowed it down to building an outside kennel and upcycling the bridge, which the Woof N Wag team asked to be ‘rainbow themed’ to represent the dogs they’ve grown close to and had passed away.
With their new ideas in mind, our learners used a variety of workshop tools and equipment to upcycle and build the pieces of furniture. Multi Skills student Kai O’Keefe told us all about how the project panned out:
“Back at base as a team, we used the internet to search for ideas of things to build and decided as a team what we were going to build. We decided on a kennel that the dogs can climb on, and rest on, and chill out. We also repaired the bridge, which we sanded down and repainted. We also made letters to put on the kennel to show them what it is for.
“Out of the whole project, I learned how to use a measuring tape properly and learned about the different tool bits and worked as a team to complete the final piece, which is being used as we speak.”
Louis Froget, another one of our Multi Skills learners, also enjoyed the project. He added: “I loved banging the nails into the dog kennel for Woof N Wag. I helped to cut out the shapes on the scroll saw, we cut out bones and paws. I painted the dog bridge in rainbow colours to make happy dogs.”
To round off the experience, our learners then returned to Woof N Wag to organise the sensory garden and set up their creations – including getting the dogs to test out their new equipment! The students enjoyed being able to see the dogs actually using the equipment they had built and found it very rewarding. Judging by the wagging tails, we’d say that the dogs enjoyed it too!
Meg Parker, Course Team Leader for Multi Skills at NHC, told us: “The students have worked incredibly hard on this project. They have shown a strong work ethic and good attention to detail to make sure the dog equipment was of high-quality and fit for purpose. They have had to work individually and as a team to make sure this project could be completed before the summer and they’ve done a fantastic job. They should all feel very proud of this achievement.”
To find out more about NHC’s Multi Skills course, check out North Hertfordshire College’s Supported Studies showcase page.
