We are delighted to make available a full suite of activities for children, developed by OK9 handler and wellbeing practitioner, PC Cathy Veale from Devon, Cornwall and Dorset Police Alliance.
Cathy has created a bespoke range of colouring sheets and activities based on her own OK9 dog Darcy and some of the other dogs from Devon Cornwall and Dorset Police Alliance, which are now available to download and print from the Oscar Kilo website.
The activity sheets will help highlight the work of our OK9 dogs and raise awareness amongst officers and staff of the other resources available to them via Oscar Kilo.
Being designed for children, these resources tie in with the wider work we are doing around police families, and we are encouraging family members of officers and staff to access other family specific resources on our families hub.
PC Cathy Veale said:
“After hearing repeated requests for a photo of OK9 Darcy to send home to the kids I thought some colouring sheets of the dogs would be a really nice way to get the kids involved, to promote the OK9 dogs to families, and for our handlers to give out at every opportunity. The OK9 dog colouring and activity sheets will enable continued conversations at home about OK9 wellbeing dogs and the wellbeing support being offered to families.
“It was wonderful to hear colleagues telling me how much their children enjoyed hearing about the OK9 dogs, completing the activities, and their requests for more colouring sheets as they wanted to collect all the different dogs.
“The activities have been successfully used at a variety of events including our Devon Force Families Day, Blue Light Event Cornwall and positively received by many colleagues to take home for their families at the end of their shift. It’s great that they are now being made available nationally via Oscar Kilo.”
Garry Botterill, Oscar Kilo Wellbeing and Trauma Support Dog lead said:
"Our OK9 handlers, most of whom are volunteers, are passionate about championing wellbeing in the workplace and helping colleagues through the peer support that they provide. The OK9 wellbeing dogs really do highlight the importance of keeping well, mentally and physically and the pathways to support if needed. We are here to support everyone in policing, from cadets to retirees, so I am delighted that Cathy has produced these wonderful resources which I hope will help with positive discussions about the importance of looking after our health and wellbeing in police families."