Hanover Court owner scoops top RSPCA award over animal welfare

Gold standard: Hanover Housing Association, which runs Hanover Court on Staincliffe Road, has achieved the RSPCA award.

Hanover Housing Association earned the accolade for its commitment to pioneering initiatives around animal welfare.

A decade on from launching its recognition scheme, the RSPCA has announced that Hanover had been awarded the highly coveted PawPrint gold award.

While many social landlords do not encourage pets, Hanover has taken a different approach, encompassing pet plans alongside those for care.

Pet ownership is known to be beneficial to physical, social and psychological wellbeing among older people.

Mark Lake, director of Housing and Support at Hanover said: “Resident wellbeing is a top priority for us. For many years we’ve recognised that pets can provide great companionship and also give older people a greater sense of purpose, so it has been vitally important that we provide the right environment that allows that to happen.

“Being so pet friendly is one of our key strengths. We know there are many benefits as a result of residents owning pets, so we are obviously delighted to be the first national organisation to gain the standard.”

Rachel Williams, senior parliamentary advisor at RSPCA, added: “It’s great to see Hanover achieving our Gold award.

“This is a real testament to the hard work of Hanover staff, their commitment to animal welfare and the health and happiness of their residents.”