Wigan schoolgirl's lasting legacy as therapy dogs help hundreds of children

Ali Colley works with therapy dogs to provide emotional and mental health support for pupils at primary and high schools.

She set up her business, named Hope’s Therapy Dogs, after her nine-year-old daughter Hope died from a brain tumour on February 6, 2018.

Ali, who lives in Up Holland, said: “She was a lovely child. She was a very easy-going, happy-go-lucky girl, loved her friends, loved her family. Her main aim in life was making people happy. Even from a very young age, she was happy if she knew everyone else was okay.

"She had been ill for a while, but because brain tumours are so difficult to diagnose, it wasn’t picked up until she was seven. It was the day after New Year’s Day that she was diagnosed and I took her into hospital.

"Very bizarrely, my nephew had a brain tumour a year before and I had been looking at her symptoms thinking it was the same, but it couldn’t be the same.”

The family was told Hope had a brain tumour in January 2016, but Ali said her daughter took it in her stride, after seeing her cousin recover from his illness.

Ali, who has three other children, said: “I remember at the time she thought she would get lots of presents, which she did, but over two years she had gruelling treatment. We were told the treatment she had was the hardest for any cancer for adults or children.”

Hope had surgery to remove the tumour, which was the size of an orange, before having radiotherapy and then chemotherapy for a year.

It was when she started radiotherapy that the family learned about therapy dogs, by meeting border collie Callie and her owner Sue.

Ali said: “They made it their mission to be there every day of her treatment for six weeks, so this dog became a fixture. She was an amazing dog.

"It was my first introduction to the role of therapy dogs. Hope fell in love.”

Hope’s parents promised to get her a puppy when she went into remission, but unfortunately she relapsed and they were told she would need more gruelling treatment.

They decided to go ahead with adopting cockerpoo Pippa, who only left Hope’s side when she was in hospital.

Sadly Hope became more unwell, but before she died, she made a special request to her mum.

Ali, 51, said: “She said when she couldn’t be with Pippa anymore, would we train Pippa to be a therapy dog for other children.

"It’s something that really got me through afterwards, because it was her request.”

After her daughter’s death, Ali took Pippa for training with Therapy Dogs Nationwide and they started going to St Aidan’s Primary School in Billinge, where Hope had been a pupil.

She said: “The children in her class were struggling – it was confronting for little kids to see anything like this happening – so I used to visit them with the dog and talk about Hope and their love for Hope was strong. I would encourage them and talk about what Hope would want them to do with their lives."

Ali had previously worked as a radiographer, but she went on to qualify as a certified assisted animal intervention specialist and launched Hope’s Therapy Dogs in April 2021.

She now has four dogs, has worked in nearly 20 schools and helped more than 500 children.

She provides emotional and mental health support for youngsters, with issues from mild anxiety to wondering if they are LGBTQ, gender dysphoria and attempted suicide.

Ali said: “Once I started going into the schools and getting to know children and their back stories and the things children are facing, then we had Covid and the mental health crisis, I think the drive got stronger and stronger to be there for children and be a provider of hope for them.

"I think children do need hope more than anything.”

Therapy dogs help to break down barriers between the children and Ali, helping them to feel more comfortable to share their thoughts.

As it can be a stressful environment, she ensures the dogs work for just two hours at a time.

She said: “I think dogs love and respect us unconditionally and the dogs we work with are gentle and empathetic. Pippa, for example, will be sitting in a room with five or six people and will go to the person in the most emotional need. I have learned over the years that if Pippa goes to someone first, that’s the person I do need to talk to. It can be uncanny in that way.

"For the children, it provides a non-threatening environment. If they are an animal lover and they go in a room with a dog, they are not thinking there is an adult wanting to get in their head, they are thinking there is a dog and they can play. They help to build relationships and break down walls so children can relax.”

Hope’s Therapy Dogs has proved to be such a success that it was highly commended at the BIBAs, the business awards run by North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, much to Ali’s surprise.

She hopes that will provide a boost for her business, allowing her to recruit more staff and go into more schools to help more children.

Ali also aims to set up a charitable arm to offer a wider range of mental health and emotional support for children, bridging the gaps in care already available.

She needs to recruit one more trustee and go through the charity application process, but hopes to launch it on February 6 – the sixth anniversary of Hope’s death.

To find out more, go to ww.hopestherapydogs.co.uk.