Children's TV star Justin Fletcher is back at Southport Flower Show this year and you can bring the kids along to see him for free!

Justin Fletcher - special Southport Flower Show guest at the Garden Theatre

THE entertainer, known to millions of youngsters for his CBeebies shows will perform 2 singing and dancing shows on:- Sunday, 20 August 2023. This year's Southport Flower Show will have more entertainment for the kids than ever before. We have an action-packed entertainment programme for the whole family to enjoy. There will also be lots of hands-on art and craft activities to entertain the children and don't forget; children under 16 go free with a paying adult.

Justin Fletcher said;- "I am so thrilled to be coming back to Southport this summer and meeting all the lovely families. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone, so come along for some singing and dancing at the Southport Flower Show. I'll be in the Garden Theatre on Sunday 20 August at 11am and 1pm so please come along and join in the fun."

Justin will join Frances Tophill (Gardeners' World and Love Your Garden), Lee Burkhill (The Garden Ninja), Jason Williams (The Cloud Gardener), Keith Brymer Jones (The Great Pottery Throw Down), Daisy Desire (The Drag Queen Gardener) and James Wong (Botanist, Broadcaster and Best-Selling Author) confirmed to date with many more to be announced over the coming months. Plans for this year's show are well underway and the combination of:- garden and floral displays, cookery demonstrations, shopping village, arena entertainment, live music and much more makes Southport Flower Show a great day outdoors for the whole family this summer. For more information see:- SouthportFlowerShow.Co.UK.

Talented hounds take on the role of "Dog and Bone" Operatives at Charity Contact Centre

AS animal welfare organisations across the country face greater demand on services than ever before, Dogs Trust, the UK's largest canine welfare charity, has taken a unique approach to staffing its Contact Centre. The Dogs Trust team has identified a number of dogs with a talent for communication and these skilled pooches will be answering calls in the charity's Contact Centre. With record numbers of calls and emails being received by Dogs Trust, it is hoped that these talented pooches can add to the support already provided by the dedicated team of human call handlers.

In 2022 the Dogs Trust Contact Centre handled a breath taking 1,036 average interactions per day and currently receives a call every 2 minutes. The Canine Contact Centre has been kitted out with the latest dog friendly office equipment and wellbeing initiatives to ensure their new employees settle in, including:-

Snout touch operated phones.
Adjustable doggy desks.
Regular lunch time walkies.
Tennis ball breaks.
"Em-paw-ee" of the month initiatives.
Doggy beds and mandatory afternoon nap time.

Although answering the phone is a 1st for dogs in the charity's care, for many years it has worked with organisations including Police forces to identify dogs with special talents. 1 dog re-homed by Dogs Trust was part of the recent rescue efforts in Turkey following the earthquake. Davey helped to find 3 survivors and provided vital intelligence for the rest of the team about where to focus their rescue efforts.

Al Sation, Dogs Trust new Canine Contact Centre Manager, says:- "Dogs Trust is busier than ever before, and we are doing all we can to support dog owners struggling with the rise in the cost of living through this difficult time. Some people say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks but this simply isn't true. Dogs love to learn new skills and tricks, regardless of their age, and as we've shown, in some cases they can learn to do things you wouldn't expect from a dog, including answering the 'dog and bone.' We're sure this new way of working won't be without challenges... 1 'em-paw-ee' has already requested tennis ball breaks, and we've had to make sure that there's plenty of treats on offer. But all our dogs are paw some and have so much to offer, whether here at Dogs Trust or with their new families when they go on to find their forever homes."

To find out more about Dogs Trust and some of the talented dogs currently looking for a new home, please visit:- DogsTrust.Org.UK.

Sorry, we had to add this! lol