Basil pictured taking his first journey from Euston to Liverpool on Virgin Trains.

At the beginning of the year we shared with you Basil's Bucket List - a fifty strong list of things it’s hoped that our little pup will achieve in his lifetime. He's making good progress towards completing some of the activities on his list but the first one we’d like to officially recognise and strike off his list is 'cheer your owner up when they are down'. Here’s why and it’s also the reason why you’ve not heard much from us of late …

Just before Christmas my beloved 89 year-old grandad took ill with his health rapidly deteriorating as each week passed. As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s been a testing time for all of the family, fraught with many ups and downs, as we have rallied together to support one another. Throughout this emotional rollercoaster, Basil has been a mini-tower of strength providing a paw to cry on, a much-needed boost and timely and frequent distractions thanks to loving looks from his bug eyes, warm and cosy cuddles or just being his cheeky rascal self. And when grandad finally passed just over a week ago, he was at the heart of the cheer up committee as myself, my fiancé and his cat brothers huddled together, as I took in the sad news.

Basil’s therapeutic qualities extend beyond his owner. On our recent trips up North, my perky pup has successfully cheered up my parents, aunties, cousins and even caused a huge outburst of smiles on the faces of staff and residents at the home where my grandad was being cared for.

So Basil, I’d like to say a big thank you and well done for completing your first activity from your Bucket List – you have officially cheered up your owner when they were down.