“This place saved my life – please don’t let it close” – appeal launched to save world leading therapy centre Heartshore Horses in Minchinhampton

Heartshore Horses is a world leading Equine Therapy Centre in Minchinhampton which provides a huge range of teaching, treatment and support for children, young people and families affected by autism.

As one of the most well-respected centres of its kind anywhere in the world, it has changed the lives of hundreds of people since it was founded more than a decade ago.

But earlier this year its biggest paying customers was forced to pull its business, leaving the centre in a serious financial crisis.

Dawn Oakley-Smith, who founded Heartshore in 2003, has now launched an appeal for funding, sponsorship and temporary homes for some of its horses to help it cope with the pressures.

“We need help with funding for an interim period whilst we find new homes for a lot of the horses,” she said.

“Unfortunately we are also looking for sponsorship for some of the horses until we are out of this intense period of transition.

“It is my dear hope that we can somehow maintain the core and spirit of the work that goes on at Heartshore, until it achieves its new form, whatever that may be.”

With 22 horses currently kept on the 19 acre land near Crackstone, Mrs Oakley-Smith said the specialist riding school would need around £70,000 to stay afloat.

Its survival is key to people like Charlie Avent, 28, who volunteered after Heartshore helped him turn his life around from the brink of suicide.

Charlie, who has autism, said that before he discovered the horses he was depressed, despairing and rapidly losing the will to live.

“I was struggling to make sense of my life, to find meaning or purpose in myself. I was so upset that I felt my existence was pointless and wanted to die,” he said.

It was then that Dawn introduced him to the herd of horses at Heartshore Thanks to their support and a special bond he formed with the horses there, Charlie says he was able to view his autism as a gift, not a burden, which could help his connect better with the animals and give him meaning and stability in life.

“Heartshore saved me from ending it all. It means absolutely everything to me,” he said.

“It has been the most important thing in my life. I love the people and I love the place and I love my friends there. If it closed I’d have to give up everything.

“I don’t know what I’d do without it. I don’t want my life to go back to where it was before.”

Lizzy Nagle, one of the centre’s four volunteers, said the loss of Heartshore would be a “tragedy”.

“There is nothing else just quite like it in the country,” she said.

“The work done here really is quite special. Over the years it has helped countless people overcome personal problems.

“We’ve had pupils who just couldn’t concentrate at school come here and really excel in their learning.

“We’ve also had autistic children who were unable to communicate that said their first words while riding.

“And of course then we’ve have people like Charlie who managed to completely transform their lives after coming here.

“There is just such a diverse range of services. It would be a real tragedy if we were forced to close.”

As a leader in natural horsemanship – otherwise known as known as horse whispering – Heartshore pioneers a number of training techniques based on the idea of sympathy and communication, focused on creating a relationship between horse and rider.

Dawn Morgan, who teaches improvised dance and embodied movement internationally, has been a volunteer at Heartshore for 12 years.

“It the hands-on relationship that people have with the horses here that is therapeutic,” she explained.

“Horses have a really calming effect on people. They teach people how to communicate, how to regulate their emotions and how to deal with stress.

“For children with autism it’s the sensory side of things that really opens up the brain and encourages learning.

“We’ve had some pupils coming here almost their whole life. I don’t know what they’d do if we closed.”

But as well as children, the centre also works closely with people in crisis to promote personal development through their bond with the animals, many of which were unbroken and problem horses themselves.

This could be people suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, depression or war veterans suffering from PTSD.

The centre also take horses into prisons with a charity called Key4Life to work with young offenders.

So far nearly £700 has been donated via a fundraising page. But the centre knows it will take a lot more to save it from closure.

To donate please visit gofundme.com/258guxas