A free wellbeing programme from Naylor’s Ark
Here for Now
Animal connection when everything feels too much.
You don’t have to be okay to come here.
Sometimes you don’t need answers.
Sometimes you just need somewhere quiet to breathe.
Here for Now offers free, quiet time with the animals at Naylor’s Ark for adults experiencing emotional distress, overwhelm or a mental-health crisis. No pressure. No judgement. No expectation to talk.
Free • By appointment • 30–60 minutes
Life can get incredibly difficult. At Naylor’s Ark, this isn’t something we’re talking about from a distance. There has been more than one occasion when we have needed our animals too.
During some of our own hardest days, being around them has given us somewhere to go, something to focus on and a reason to slow everything down for a while.
Animals don’t expect you to explain yourself. They don’t need you to find the right words. They don’t care whether you’ve managed to put on a brave face that day. Sometimes they simply stand beside you.
We created Here for Now because we want other people to have access to that same little bit of breathing space when life feels too much.
You don’t need to wait until you’ve reached breaking point. You can just come and be Here for Now.
Every session can be different. Depending on the animals available, the weather, animal welfare and what you feel comfortable doing, you might:
- Sit quietly near the animals
- Groom an animal
- Feed suitable animals under supervision
- Help with a simple animal-care activity
- Walk around the sanctuary
- Sit somewhere peaceful
- Talk to the facilitator
- Say absolutely nothing
You don’t have to explain.
You don’t have to talk.
You just get to be here.
You will never be pressured into discussing your mental health.
A peaceful environment where you can pause, breathe and reset.
Spend time around our animals in whatever safe way feels comfortable for you.
Sit, groom, feed, help with an animal task or simply be nearby.
A member of the Naylor’s Ark team will be there with you.
We will treat what you share respectfully. There are limited circumstances where information may need to be shared to protect someone’s immediate safety or meet safeguarding responsibilities.
Research into human–animal interaction and animal-assisted interventions has reported potential wellbeing benefits, including reductions in stress and anxiety, improvements in mood and social connection, and physiological changes associated with relaxation in some settings. Research suggests that positive interaction with animals can support wellbeing for some people.
But Here for Now isn’t about promising that an animal can fix everything. It’s about recognising something much simpler: sometimes having somewhere peaceful to be, with an animal beside you, can make a difficult moment feel a little less lonely.
For the initial pilot, Here for Now is for adults aged 18+.
You do not need:
- • A mental-health diagnosis
- • A GP referral
- • To already be receiving mental-health treatment
- • To prove that they are in crisis
- • To explain everything they are experiencing
You can book for yourself, and professionals or community organisations can refer someone with their agreement.
You don’t need to reach breaking point to come.
- • Here for Now is a non-clinical animal-based wellbeing service.
- • We are not a mental-health crisis team, counselling service, psychiatric service or emergency medical service.
- • Our team cannot provide mental-health diagnoses, clinical assessments or medical advice.
- • If someone requires immediate emergency assistance, a Here for Now appointment is not an alternative to emergency care.
Immediate danger to life, serious injury or overdose: Call 999 or go to A&E
Urgent mental health help, not an emergency: Call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option
Someone to talk to, any hour: Samaritans 116 123 (free, 24/7)
Text support: Text SHOUT to 85258
Sessions are free and last 30–60 minutes. Bookings are only taken here on this website.