{"id":102625,"date":"2025-05-15T04:49:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T04:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/102625\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T04:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T04:49:16","slug":"donkey-delights-residents-as-charlie-swaps-hollywood-for-bristol-care-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/102625\/","title":{"rendered":"Donkey delights residents as Charlie swaps Hollywood for Bristol care home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Charlie the donkey, a real-life film star, melted hearts at a Bristol care home with his unexpected antics and calming charm<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_LC_220425charlie_00.jpg\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>A toddler meets a young goat during the Easter fun day at Lovell Place Care Home, with smiles all round from residents and visitors alike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Charlie the donkey proved he\u2019s still got hee-haw-llywood charm when he trotted into a Bristol care home for a day of community fun in April. The four-legged film star, best known for appearing alongside Martin Freeman in Nativity , was the mane attraction at Lovell Place Care Home in Patchway, where he delighted residents and helped raise funds for a national pet therapy charity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The red carpet was rolled out as Charlie arrived with his companions from <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.2ndchancepettingfarm.com\" target=\"_new\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">2nd Chance Petting Farm<\/a> in Frome for an Easter-themed day in aid of <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/petsastherapy.org\" target=\"_new\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Pets As Therapy<\/a>. The event brought together residents, families and local visitors for a celebration filled with animal encounters, laughter and support for a good cause.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In an unexpected twist, the donkey even took a turn behind the reception desk, endearing himself further to staff and visitors alike.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_LC_220425charlie_03.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/> Charlie the donkey takes a turn behind the reception desk \u2014 although it\u2019s unclear how many calls he actually answered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Resident Joan Cole said: \u201cCharlie and his friends were amazing and so calming to have here at the home. Charlie was great on the reception desk, and he can come back any time. Although I am not sure how many calls he took!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Pets As Therapy is a UK-based charity whose volunteers and their animals regularly visit hospitals, nurseries, hospices and care homes to provide emotional support and companionship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Vicky Green, wellbeing and lifestyle coach at Lovell Place, said: \u201cA big thank you to everyone who came along on the day and enjoyed petting the animals. We had a lot going on, and it was wonderful to welcome our superstar, Charlie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cOur regular therapy dog Duke brings a lot of joy to residents here, so we know first-hand what a difference animals can make to helping us cope with all kinds of things in our lives. Charlie was a wonderful guest, and we were pleased so many people got a chance to meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_LC_220425charlie_01.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Charlie the donkey gets a gentle pat from a Lovell Place resident, bringing calm and connection to the community visit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Charlie also visited residents in their rooms, delivering smiles and moments of calm. Other attractions on the day included a giant Easter egg hunt, arts and crafts, and a selection of refreshments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The event was organised by <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hamberleycarehomes.co.uk\" target=\"_new\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Hamberley Care Homes<\/a>, which runs Lovell Place and was named Residential Care Home Provider of the Year at the 2022 HealthInvestor Awards.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_LC_220425charlie_02.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlie the donkey, a real-life film star, melted hearts at a Bristol care home with his unexpected antics&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,23340,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-102625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-patchway","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114510047928603584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}