Disability horse-riding centre saved from closure
Unicorn Riding CentreA horse-riding centre for people with disabilities and additional needs has been saved from closure.
Unicorn Riding Centre, in Middlesbrough, announced it was under threat last October after its previous board of trustees said it was facing "growing financial pressures". It secured six months of financial support from the Riding for the Disabled Association.
The centre has since taken on a new board of voluntary trustees and successful fundraising events and sponsorships have allowed them to keep the stable doors open.
"We are doing better," said director and trustee Kate Wythe. "We are still very much in need but we are determined to make sure the centre doesn't close."
Visitors to the centre, which opened in 1998, learn to ride its horses or spend time grooming them as a calming experience.
Unicorn Riding CentreWythe said the money her team was raising was to cover the centre's basic costs.
"We are fighting... higher food and energy prices so we have to raise more money all the time," she said.
The centre's facilities - such as its riding arena - were also being hired out to generate extra cash, she said.
The centre was important to riders and volunteers, she said, and also provided vital "downtime" during classes for parents and carers who could meet other people in similar situations.
"The therapeutic benefits of getting on a horse, being around a horse, and the joy that it brings, it's priceless," she said.
"You can't put a value on the smile on somebody's face."
