Meet Coffee and Billie Jean.
Coffee, aged three, is a tamaruke labradoodle. She's been visiting residents at Uniting Narla Belmont North for years, cheering them up, bringing them happy vibes that only dogs can bring.
Coffee's owner Michael Hickerton was a driver with Uniting Narla for 20 years. Coffee was his constant companion.
Michael and Coffee retired a year ago but still make time to visit residents regularly.
Coffee recently had some fur babies of her own. Among them was her daughter, 10-week old Billie Jean. The proud mum recently showed off Billie Jean to the Belmont North residents.
Narla's lifestyle co-ordinator Sharon Westcott said the dogs' visits were a highlight of the residents' week.
"The new puppy has brought us pure joy. These fur babies are spreading a gift of love."
Resident Margaret Mensforth always had dogs until she came into care.
"First time I saw Michael here, he had Coffee with him. Coffee came and sat on my feet, which I thought was lovely," Margaret said.
"It's very uplifting to have the dogs here. The dogs are very welcome here, as long as they do the right thing!"
Michael said Narla residents look forward to seeing the dogs.
"You just see their faces light up, you know, you see how much it means to them.
"When Billie Jean came in, they were all over her."
He said the dogs had a good temperament, making the visits possible.
"There's no shedding and they're highly intelligent."
Once Billie Jean is older, she will visit more Uniting services in the region.
"There's a few people in the offices who demand I visit. Some of the time it's harder to keep the staff away from the dogs than the residents," Michael joked.
"They're peas in a pod the mother and daughter, I wasn't sure how it would go, but now I'll absolutely bring both of them."
The idea of taking dogs to see the residents first came about at Singleton.
"One of the girls owned one of these tamaruke labradoodles and he came on the bus and it was just fantastic and well behaved, so I thought 'that's a good idea'.
"So, I went and got one. Same breed, from the same breeder.
"The residents just loved having the dogs on the bus. Some ladies would say, 'Is Coffee here today?' If I said no, they wouldn't come on the bus."
Under Water
Topics roving reporter Eunice C. English was out and about at Kotara Westfield last week when she saw Coles supermarket in a spot of bother.
Water was leaking from the ceiling onto checkouts.
"Something must have burst in the ceiling," she said.
If you look closely, you can see the water falling in this photo.
