As part of the Heritage Open days, The Police Treatment Centre, on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate, will open its doors to the public.
Visitors can find out more about the founder of the Police Treatment Centres charity, Miss Catherine Gurney, and the organisation’s history.
On the day visitors will be able to meet Ann and her Leonberger Therapy Dogs that are helping Police Officer get back to better health by offering comfort, happiness and emotional wellbeing to the patients.
It will be open from 10.30am until 4pm on Sunday 11 September 2016.
The Therapy Dogs are a recent addition to the services offered at the centres, which has cost the charity nothing and runs with the help of volunteers, both human and canine. They visit the Centres once a week for a couple of hours.
Many patients staying at the Centres are dog owners themselves, or even work with dogs, and while away from home or work will be missing their canine companions. As a result they very much enjoy this opportunity to interact, spend some time with, and talk to these very friendly and gorgeous dogs.
Tours of the treatment facilities, which include a state of the art physiotherapy unit and rehabilitation gym, will run throughout the day and there will also be the opportunity to meander around the award-winning gardens.
On the day, volunteers from the Prison and Police Museum in Ripon will also be at St Andrews talking about the history of policing, and will also have truncheons, hats and more for people to see.
Refreshments will be available in exchange for a small donation which will help to support the services the Charity provides to injured and ill police officers. A Tombola will run on the day with prizes donated from local business including Castle Howard and The Sitting Room Comedy Club.
Fran Greenwood, from the Police Treatment Centres said:
St Andrews has been part of the Harrogate landscape for over 100 years and has such an interesting history but many people don’t know we’re here. We hope we can give our visitors a great insight into the hidden gem on their doorstep. Last year we welcome almost 200 people to the centre so we hope this year will be just as successful.
Heritage Open Days is the largest heritage festival in the country; in 2014, over 4,600 events welcomed around three million visitors across England.
It celebrate England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to a wide range of splendid buildings and properties, of all ages and styles, which are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission.
