PICTURES: ‘Exceptionally good’ sheep visits Andersons Care Home in Elgin
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A HANDSOME visitor put smiles on the faces of Andersons Care Home earlier this month.
That visitor was Ella - a Shetland sheep with a “naturally calm temperament”, Pluscarden-based shepherd Sharon Hurford said.
“All of my sheep are really good, but she seems to be exceptionally good,” she added.
Ella’s trip to the Elgin care home was “absolutely magical”, crofter Sharon said, because it gave residents with a farming background a chance to reconnect with rural life.
“My grandparents were in a care home,” she said.
“And I just know that my grandmother would have loved something like that.
“A lot of older people come from a rural background, but can’t access the life they used to have.
“So it’s about bringing that to them.”
She said Ella was a massive hit with the residents.
“They absolutely loved it, everybody did,” she added.
“I certainly did, the people really really did and Ella enjoyed it too.
“Watching their faces light up when I took Ella in, it was just magical.
“And I feel really fortunate to have experienced that.
Sharon said that the idea to visit Andersons Care Home with one of her flock came during a Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) conference.
Featured at that event were a wide range of ways in which smallholders across the country were shining a light on their work.
Because Sharon could not invite the public to her own croft, she said, she decided to find a way to “make the croft come to people”.
“The feeling I have when I’m around the sheep is wonderful, so I want to share that experience with people,” she added.
Crofting is becoming increasingly common in Moray, Sharon said, and she shares details of her crofting through her Facebook Page The Wee Croft.
Sharon encouraged those who might enjoy a similar visit from Ella to get in touch through her Facebook page.
She extended the offer to other care homes, and also raised the prospect of educational visits to schools.
Summing up her experience at Andersons, she said: “It was absolutely magical.
“I feel really privileged to be part of that. It’s very special to be there, just triggering those old memories in people.
“It is such an honour to be able to do that, such a magical thing to be a part of, and I feel grateful to have the chance to be a part of that.
“It is very special.”
