Classic FM has confirmed that its show filled with calming music to help keep anxious pets and their owners relaxed is back this fireworks season.
Bonfire Night is loved all across the UK for the spectacular firework displays and all the festive-themed activities that go along with it, but the November holiday isn’t so fun for our four-legged friends.
Fireworks can be frightening to pets because of the loud bangs, flashing lights, and unpleasant strong smell of spent explosives, and with multiple bangs occurring from numerous displays, pets are rarely able to pinpoint where the booming explosions are coming from.
Not knowing what an explosion is, where it’s coming from, or where and when the next one is going to be, can be terrifying for some pets.
Recently, a survey by the RSPCA revealed that two-thirds (63%) of animal owners reported their pet was distressed during fireworks season, and that playing relaxing music was the most common way (36%) to help calm or prepare their animal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Many kennels and rehoming centres across the UK also use the power of classical music to decrease stress levels amongst their animals.
Classic FM’s show filled with calming music to help keep anxious pets relaxed is back this fireworks season / Credit: Elisha Terada (via Unsplash)
So this year, Classic FM is once again teaming up with the RSPCA to create two Pet Classics programmes packed with “the most soothing and comforting classical music” that’s been handpicked to help calm and settle any anxious pets.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hosted by Classic FM presenter Charlotte Hawkins, alongside the music there’ll also be dedications to listeners’ pets, as well as advice from the RSPCA for any owners looking to reassure their animals.
“I am thrilled to be hosting Pet Classics again this year, as it’s such a special show,” Charlotte said.
“I’ve seen first-hand from my dog just how difficult a time it can be for pets during the fireworks, but it’s amazing the difference relaxing music can have in helping to calm and soothe animals.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had such an overwhelming response to Pet Classics last year, it was so good seeing the impact the music made to pets up and down the country… so I’m looking forward to people joining in again this year and sending me lots of photos of their calm pets.”
Join @CharlotteHawkns for ‘Pet Classics’, our special programme to calm pets during fireworks season with tips and advice from @RSPCA_official. 🐱🐶🦜🎶
We hope you, and all furry and feathered friends, can join us on 4 and 5 November at 5pm. pic.twitter.com/lvd8LLclTE
“Owners can really struggle with knowing what to do for the best, so it’s one of the reasons we are delighted to partner with Classic FM on their Pet Classics programmes, as studies show that calming music can be beneficial for some animals during this time.”
Pet Classics will be broadcast on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November from 5pm to 9pm on Classic FM.
Featured Image – Flickr
Trending
Eurovision costumes, props and instruments are being auctioned off – and it’s a mad collection
Daisy Jackson
Items from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest are being sold at auction this week, from iconic costumes to enormous props.
It means that fans of the massive event – this year held in Liverpool – will be able to snap up a permanent piece of Eurovision history.
Have you ever looked around your living room and thought ‘You know what this place really needs? Those giant purple hands that Kalush Orchestra danced on this year’?
Or ‘I hate this jumper. I wish a had a green one with a face on like those Daði Freyr Eurovision dancers’?
Or even ‘A set of fluffy pink and yellow heart-shaped cushions would really brighten the place up’?
Well now there’s an auction you might be interested in, with bids opening from just £5.
The original props, costumes, and even instruments are on sale now, until 11 June.
Kalush Orchestra’s hands are in the Eurovision auctionThe Daði Freyr jumpersCredit: BBC
You could be turning the actual lectern thing that Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham stood behind for the results show into a cool bar, or decorating your pad with the drums used in Sam Ryder’s powerful performance.
The top bids currently, just a few days after the auction started, stand at £500 – that’s for the presenter’s lectern and for the Daði Freyr jumpers.
Someone else has bid a whopping £250 for a set of fluffy cushions.
There are more than 60 items available to buy, including parts of the set, which were designed by Julio Himede and unveiled by the King and Queen.
The BBC has reported that 20% of the money raised will go to two different charities, split between ACC Liverpool Foundation and BBC Media Action, with the remaining 80% going back to BBC Studios to fund programmes and services.
Sally Mills, head of sustainability at BBC Studios said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, both on and off screen.
“We have a responsibility to operate with as minimal an impact on the environment as possible, and are always looking for innovative ways in which to further engage audiences with our content, and extend the life of our sets and costumes.
“What better way to do this than to give fans the opportunity to own a piece of Eurovision history?”
Derbyshire woman sent floods of cards for 108th birthday after care home appeal
Emily Sergeant
A woman from Derbyshire has received floods of cards after her care home put out an appeal to celebrate her landmark birthday.
Ada Daniel is hitting a milestone that not many get to reach today – her 108th birthday.
Born in the picturesque Derbyshire village of Ambergate all the way back in 1915, and living in the nearby town of Ripley with her beloved pet Greyhounds for most of her life, Mrs Daniel had a successful career working at Belper Mill for 27 years before her retirement.
And also before going on to become, what Oldest in Britain has confirmed, is currently the 65th oldest person in the UK.
Mrs Daniel has lived at Codnor Park Care Home since 2015 now, and it was the staff at this Derbyshire care home who decided to put out an appeal on social media asking that kind members of the public send birthday cards.
They hoped to get 108 cards to celebrate her 108th birthday.
This isn’t the first time staff at the care home have put out a public appeal for cards, as they did the same for Mrs Daniel’s 105th birthday during lockdown back in 2020, and received that number and more.
And according to the home, this time has proved just as successful as the last, the BBC reports.
“Ada hasn’t got a lot of family left,” explained Kelly Goucher, who is the activity coordinator at Ashmere Derbyshire – the company that runs the care home.
Ada Daniel is celebrating her 108th birthday today / Credit: Supplied | Ashmere Derbyshire
“She never had any children, so she doesn’t have any grandchildren, so we just wanted to get her as many cards as possible… [and] I woke up to 135 messages the following morning of people wanting to send cards.”
Ms Goucher described Mrs Daniel as “a character” at the care home, and when asked what her secret to a long life was one time, she said it was “to have dogs, not kids.”
Emily Sergeant -
28th October 2022 
