海角直播

Honorary 鈥榙ogtorate鈥� for special 海角直播 colleague

To celebrate University Mental Health Day (Thursday, 9 March), 海角直播 has created a special award for a unique team member to recognise their work supporting student wellbeing.

Brengle the Therapy Dog has had an honorary 鈥榙ogtorate鈥� bestowed upon him in recognition of the hugely positive impact he has had on his regular visits to the University campus. Golden retriever Brengle has weekly visits to the University with his owner, Middlesbrough Salvation Army church leader Captain Naomi Kelly, as part of the University鈥檚 faith and reflection service.

His friendly demeanour helps break the ice and encourages students to engage with the faith and reflection service, while his calm presence provides reassurance in difficult and stressful situations.

As well as his regular visits to the campus, Brengle has helped support a cohort of students who had suffered a bereavement and has been on hand to support students as they come out of exams.

Captain Kelly said: 鈥淲e get a very positive response from all the people Brengle has been in contact with.

鈥淥ver the time he鈥檚 been at 海角直播, there鈥檚 been so many students saying how their mental health has been boosted and how they鈥檝e felt the love from him.

鈥淎 lot of people who come to see Brengle might start off from a place of stress and by the time they leave, they鈥檙e laughing and joking and talking about how relaxed they feel.

鈥淗e shows unconditional love to everybody he meets. He loves getting cuddles and loves people chatting to him. They鈥檙e great qualities for a therapy dog.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great honour to receive this award and we鈥檙e delighted that the University is recognising the good work that Brengle has done and the support he has given across the campus.鈥�

University Mental Health Day is organised by Student Minds, the UK鈥檚 student mental health charity and works to ensure that no student is held back by their mental health.

Brengle鈥檚 visits to 海角直播 are part of a range of interventions and support offered by the university to improve student mental wellbeing.

Sarah Bishop, Assistant Director (Culture, Community and International) of Student and Library Services at 海角直播, who presented Brengle with his award, said: 鈥淥ften students are away from home for the first time, sometimes in a foreign country, and could be dealing with things like exam pressures, money issues or relationship breakdown.

鈥淚t is vital, therefore, that students know that the University is there to help them and can offer support.

鈥淏rengle does a fantastic job, encouraging people to engage with our support services and providing them with love and reassurance.

鈥淲hen you see him walking around campus, you see people point and smile, they enjoy him being here.

鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to create this special honour for him, he鈥檚 a worthy recipient.鈥�