Lancashire mum transforms thousands of lives with dogs - after special promise to daughter
A mum who made a promise to her nine-year-old daughter is now transforming thousands of young lives in her memory.
Alison Colley set up Hopes Therapy Dogs three years after the death of daughter Hope from a brain tumour, having seen the power of therapy dogs first hand.
In the past five years, the legacy business has helped more than 1,500 children and young people - giving comfort, helping selecting mute children talk, and even helping discourage suicidal thoughts.
Now Ali is keen to spread the work further, and was recognised in the 2025 Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAs), winning the coveted national Health and Wellbeing Award.
Where it all began
When Hope was diagnosed with a brain tumour, she experienced a therapy dog called Callie while undergoing treatment at Clatterbridge Hospital. Ali said: “It turned her journey from something that was quite terrifying for a seven-year-old into something she looked forward to.”
The family had promised Hope she’d get her own Therapy Dog when she recovered. But when she relapsed, her oncologist gently encouraged them to get the dog anyway. And so they welcomed Pippa, ‘a scruffy little Cockapoo with a heart of gold’, who became Hope’s shadow, never leaving her side, even in her final days.
Before Hope died in February 2028, she asked her mum for one last promise: “Mum, please will you train Pippa to help other children like she helped me.”
And so she did.
Pippa was trained as a therapy dog and Ali - who had also undergone training -began taking her into Hope’s old school; St Aiden’s in Billinge, as well as care homes and womens refuges. By 2019, Ali had taken a role as a Therapy Dog Handler at a specialist SEMH school, working with children with Autism, ADHD, and Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties (EBD).
By April 2021, Ali, from Upholland, Skelmsersale, had founded her own business, working with people with conditions from mild anxiety to suicide idiation. She said: “I became booked up very quickly. I saw the amount of emotional mental health help needed and it scared me, as well as propelled me. I thought, this is my bit in my corner of the world, and I need to do it.
“I always had the impetus of Hope’s legacy, but seeing the need also drove me on.”
Ali has been able to grow the team to six dog handlers/therapists and nine dogs, and has helped more than 1,500 children and young people across Lancashire, Liverpool, Cheshire and Merseyside. The business is hoping to expand its offering across the North West and is particularly keen on moving into West Lancashire, as well as expanding into London.
“We hope we can spread nationally”, said Ali. But it has to be done properly, with our standards set up to protect the wellbeing of the dog. And we would only employ people who have a background in the field we want to work in, so they’re not just dog handlers.”
She added: “We don’t offer to solve these problems, but we are working to support. The presence of a dog brings calm. It helps people feel safe, especially if they have experienced trauma.
“The dog has to have the right temperament and the handler has to have the right skill set.”
The dog used depends on the area they are working in. Ali said: “We’re not a typical pet therapy business where the dog just sits there and is stroked. Working with schools, we often play games, do scent work, tricks and agility training. The dog is active and the child interacts with it on that level. But we also go to hospices, and you wouldn’t want a dog jumping around there, so there are different dogs for different jobs.”
The team’s nine dogs range from a black labrador to cockapoos, to labradoodles and a Bedlington terrier.
“I know it changes lives”
Ali said: “In many ways it’s not easy - you’re working with people who have had a hard time. You can be at the rough end, but overall, it is a joy. I know it changes lives and makes a massive difference. That’s why I think we were put on this planet - to contribute.
“I’ve seen children with selective mutism talk, children who struggle to regulate their emotions be able to do so and contribute to the class, and children with suicide idiation tell me that just by working with a dog, they no longer feel that way.
“Hope felt like she had a friend - and cancer removes you from your friends. Pippa really filled that gap.”
To find out more about the services offered by Hopes Therapy Dogs, click on this link, email or email: [email protected]
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