Animals help anxious young people back into school and everyday life — Surrey pilot shows promise for Thailand-style community responses
Young people in Surrey who have been out of school for months are reporting reduced anxiety and renewed confidence after taking part in an outreach programme that pairs them with animals as part of a broader therapeutic education offer — a small-scale, community-led model that experts say reflects a growing international evidence base for animal-assisted approaches while also underlining the need for careful design, safeguards and evaluation before wider roll‑out in other countries, including Thailand. The Surrey project, run by therapeutic education provider Elysian and funded through the Surrey All‑Age Mental Health Investment Fund, supports children and teenagers aged 7–19 who have been away from school for three months or more by using “gentle, creative approaches — involving time with animals — to reduce anxiety and build trust,” according to Elysian’s inclusion and outreach lead, quoted in reporting on the programme BBC News. Surrey Heartlands NHS leaders who visited the scheme described observable improvements in young people “overcoming anxiety and getting back into the world” BBC News.