A Banbury schoolgirl has been named a veterinary service's 'Top Challenger' for lockdown activities

The Banbury schoolgirl completed over 80 of the World Veterinary Service's (WVS) at-home challenges during the four months of lockdown since March.

The charity’s programme asked youngsters to tackle daily and weekly tasks, from arts and crafts and research tasks to creative exercises all focused on the welfare needs of animals and the environments in which they live.

In the comfort of her own home in Kingsway, Kiki learnt about all sort of animals, from bees to sharks and even working animals such as elephants and donkeys. She used household items to create her own 3D underwater scene and items from her garden to design a new Young Vets Club logo.

Kiki even created her own version of a veterinary surgery and hand-made a face mask so she could examine her plush toys, just like a real veterinarian or veterinary nurse.

Kiki was delighted to be named the program's ‘Top Challenger’ and explained that the dog-related challenges were her favourite to complete.

“I especially loved learning why dogs have such a good sense of smell. I enjoyed every challenge though - it made sure I wasn’t bored during the lockdown," she said.

Kiki’s efforts included raising £92 in The 2.6 Challenge, a fundraising event aimed at helping charities in lieu of the UK Marathon. She set up an obstacle course in her backyard and completed 26 laps of it dressed up as her favourite animal, a dog.

“Fundraising was a lot of fun," she said. "I was so thankful to see donations coming in from my friends and family. I knew the more money I could raise, the more animals I could help. That was very special.”

By participating in almost every daily and weekly challenge that was set, Kiki earned the top place on the Young Vets Club leaderboard. And her achievements encouraged children from across the world to get involved.

International Education Manager for WVS, Nicky Cook, said, “Throughout the lockdown, we had some amazing submissions from children as far as South Africa, Fiji and Australia. I was so impressed with the skills and imagination all the kids displayed through their works. Kiki, who was actually our first official member of the Young Vets Club in 2018, really stood out - she completed almost every challenge we set to a high standard.”

Ms Cook designed each at-home challenge to be educational, fun and accessible. The results were so successful in engaging students and teachers in environmental and animal welfare issues that this style of at-home learning has now been added as an official part of the Young Vets Club program for school holiday periods.