


Patrons: Martin Clunes and Lord Knight of Weymouth | Registered Charity No. 1141654/1170553 |
COVID-19 – Restricted service
As an essential service recognised by our local authority, we have stayed open throughout the pandemic (including lockdown 1 and 2) to support those in greatest need. Our professional referrers from Social Care, NHS and local schools are fantastic partners, working with us to triage and support families and individuals – thank you all, it is a privilege to work alongside you as always.
We continually re-organise our site in line with Govt guidance. Working in the open and in airy barns makes ours a relatively safe environment and support from our funders and from Govt. has enabled us to deploy staff flexibly.
Our wonderful "Working Wellies" (supported volunteers) are onsite whenever they can be and keep in touch via zoom when we have to restrict access.
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Leaders in well-evidenced high impact equine-assisted interventions. Having proven our work in prisons, we have established a busy community-based HQ in Weymouth, Dorset, UK. Employing 5 facilitators and 14 horses, we work with young people from 8yrs old, families and adults. In Dorset we help at least 500 extremely troubled people each year, we do not charge the participants. We also provide Alternative Provision for young people out of education, accredited qualifications (in partnership with Weymouth College), and supported volunteering through our Working Wellies project.
We train and assess others to replicate our programmes and we work hard to support them in setting up their own centres around the UK. Independent centres running our programmes are becoming increasingly busy and more are opening. We monitor their impact data to ensure they are as effective as we are, and provide ongoing support and training.
We hold an Animal Activity Licence from Dorset Council, No: WPRE0002. We also maintain the Social Farms & Gardens Code of Practice compliance.
Participants are 8yrs to adult, by referral only from Schools & PRUs, Social Care, NHS Mental Health Services, Troubled Families, Offender Services and other specialist agencies.
Our participants have serious problems – typically more than four from the list below. And they are referred because they are ‘stuck’ or disengaged from talk-based support. We teach, rehearse and repeat key resilience skills in an intensive and challenging, but fun, 5 day programme with feedback in-the-moment from specially trained horses and 1-to-1 facilitator support.
In addition to the intensive ReStart we offer Lighter Touch options such as top ups, tailored sessions and group work - different ways to help people at a lower level of need or to provide longer term support after a ReStart course. We also run "Working Wellies", our supported volunteering programme for ex-participants, based around horticulture, land and yard care – a crucial part of keeping our site clean and lovely and our horses happy and healthy.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for referral and consent forms.
We offer frontline professionals and the public - a 2 hour training in our specialism - reading and responding to non-verbal behaviour. A game-changer with difficult emotions or behaviours.
See Eventbrite to check dates and book a course. Additional training options are also on Eventbrite.