Increased line up of summer events underway

Over the spring and summer we are attending an increased number of public-facing events around the UK to promote the Practice Standards Scheme (PSS), our Find a Vet service and veterinary and veterinary nursing careers.

Our first event was the Devon County Show near Exeter from Thursday 17 to Saturday 19 May, where we brought our make-believe veterinary practice to help raise public awareness of the PSS, our voluntary accreditation and awards scheme, which now includes over 61% of veterinary practice premises.

We promoted our online Find a Vet service to the many animal owners at the show, and continued to spread the word about our recent #petsneedvets campaign, run jointly with the British Veterinary Association, to encourage all animal owners to register their pets with a veterinary practice. Over three days, we handed out around 1,000 promotional #petsneedvets bags and accompanying leaflets to show-goers to help raise awareness.

Members of our Council/VN Council and staff also enjoyed dozens of conversations school pupils of all ages about veterinary and vet nursing careers, explaining more about the realities of life as both a student and practising professional. There were even games for budding vets and vet nurses, involving operating on (stuffed) animals and bandaging injured limbs. Pictures of the event are now available on our Flickr page.

Next, we will be taking our veterinary practice roadshow to the Royal Welsh Show near Builth Wells from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 July where there will be more interactive veterinary fun for children and families.

Finally, we will be heading to the BBC Countryfile Live event for the third year in a row, held on the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 August.

Ian Holloway, Director of Communications at the RCVS, said: “Following the success and popularity of our stand at Countryfile Live over the past two years we decided that this year we would broaden our horizons and attend some of the UK’s most prestigious and well-attended regional events.

“We have our ever popular careers materials available, and it was wonderful to see dozens of young people at the Devon County Show asking us about how they can become veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses, as they always have the past two years at Countryfile.

"This is a really encouraging level of interest in the professions and we’re very happy to provide information to help them fulfil their aspirations.

“Attending more and different public events is a trend we are very keen on continuing with and we will be looking at other events to attend in different parts of the UK for next year.”

For more information about our upcoming events, please visit our events page.