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A new workspace for vulnerable children has been created after a charity rock concert raised the funds to make it possible.

Animal rescue charity, HorseWorld in Bristol run a program of ‘Discovery Courses’ which support vulnerable young people through an innovative equine assisted learning programme.

Rescued and rehabilitated horses work with young people who have physical or emotional disorders. This can have startling results. Young people demonstrating autistic behaviour or ADHD often struggle to communicate, but by putting them with horses they can learn about themselves, other people and can interact positively with the world. It can be seen that young people who may have difficulty controlling their impulses can focus on the horse for long periods while grooming or leading the animal. These may be children who would be unable to concentrate for so long on anything else. Withdrawn children begin to express themselves and develop new words and gestures not previously used.

The new area was created by refurbishing the internal areas of old, disused stables into an area where the children can change into their outdoor clothes and boots in the warm and dry. It is next to the existing Discovery facilities.

The money for this refurbishment was raised through a charity rock concert run by HorseWorld supporter, Darren Sims. The “Daz’s Rock 4 Charity” concert in March last year on The Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare raised over £5,000 for HorseWorld’s Discovery Courses. Darren (aka Daz) has raised almost £500,000 for various charities over the last  10 years by performing  concerts across the UK.

HorseWorld’s Discovery Course leader Sharon Howell said “We cannot thank Daz enough for his support. The new rooms are already making a great difference to the children taking part in the Discovery Courses. We have had a lot of wet weather recently so having somewhere warm, dry and comfortable to come in and sit down is wonderful. These were old, disused stables that were considered to be too small for horses by today’s welfare standards but by repurposing them into a  usable space, we now have a fantastic office and boot room.

This year’s Rock 4 Charity event will fund Discovery Courses which focus on children who are suffering from mental illness. “We were so pleased to be able to fund the new Discovery facilities.” Said Daz.  “We are proud to be supporting HorseWorld Trust and their Discover Wellbeing programme this year which will help 40 young people with mental illness, learning disabilities and who have come from difficult backgrounds.”

The next Rock 4 Charity concert in aid of HorseWorld is Friday 9th March at The Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare. Details can be found at www.horseworld.org.uk/events

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