thebaxterproject.com

What It Is

The Baxter Project is an animal-assisted early intervention project in Wales, UK, delivered by Wales Therapeutic Activities Group CIC and established in 2019. It is not a standard online course, but an offline 1:1 support service for schools, EOTAS, colleges, children’s services, and foster care organizations. It focuses on supporting children and young people experiencing anxiety, school refusal/EBSA, emotional regulation difficulties, trauma/ACEs, ALN, neurodiversity, and complex backgrounds.

Core Services

Its core approach is “connection before intervention.” On the surface, the sessions may look like walking with dogs and having relaxed conversations, but behind the scenes, trained practitioners use evidence-informed methods such as the Trauma Recovery Model, Motivational Interviewing, DNA-V, pACE, and ACT. The website specifically states that the participating dogs are assessed companion wellbeing dogs, not therapy animals; the real vehicle for intervention is the relationship built between the practitioner and the young person.

Data and Governance

The project emphasizes trackable outcomes. Each session is recorded through the ODISSYS platform, including the date, duration, practitioner, notes, outcomes, and safeguarding matters, and termly reports can be generated for schools, governing bodies, and commissioners. It uses SCWBS and NMRQ, and also mentions tools such as SDQ and SWEMWBS to track wellbeing and resilience. Publicly shared data includes 30,000+ 1:1 sessions, 100+ schools and organizations, an average student rating of 4.85/5, and 96.1% of participants saying the sessions were helpful.

Pricing

Private 1:1 sessions for organizations are listed at £80 per session, with no hidden fees and no long-term contract required. Organizations can commission from a single session and scale up gradually. Specific pricing for larger-scale procurement by schools or local authorities is not disclosed and requires requesting an information pack or getting in touch.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its very clear positioning and suitability for students who are difficult to reach through traditional psychological services or classroom-based interventions. Its methodology, safeguarding processes, risk assessments, DBS checks, consent procedures, and data reporting are relatively comprehensive. The limitations are that the service depends heavily on in-person delivery and mainly covers Wales. Its evidence of effectiveness is largely based on its own feedback, case studies, and partner testimonials, so if used for public procurement or as an alternative to clinical services, its independent evaluation evidence should be further verified.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is suitable for local schools in Wales, children’s services, foster care organizations, charities, and social value commissioners. It is not suitable for individual learners looking to purchase online courses or certification training. Access from China cannot be determined from the text and is marked as unknown.