Plea to give 'unsung hero' Nuneaton ponies a Christmas treat

A festive appeal with a difference has been launched to help give 'unsung hero' ponies at a Nuneaton riding school the best Christmas ever.



Staff at the Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Equestrian Centre (NNWEC), known as the riding school for the disabled, want to give their hard-working ponies a few days off and a bit of pampering over the festive season.

They say that they work hard all year round giving disabled riding lessons and are keen to treat them this Christmas, but they cannot do it alone.

Sandra Haddon, NNWEC manager, said: "At the stables in Galley Common our ponies are the unsung heroes of our charity.

"They work extremely hard all year round providing disabled riding lessons. This Christmas, with the help of our supporters, we would like to give them a big thank you.

"We want to give them a few days off, some pony pamper time and most important of all, a big hearty Christmas lunch!

"If people want to contribute they can come to the stables with their gift or make a donation online to mydonate.bt.com nnwec. Just £20 will supply three days bedding, a special Christmas dinner and a well-deserved rest for one of our ponies. We hope that families or maybe companies could club together to raise the £20 it would take to give one of our ponies a great Christmas!

"If people don't want to give money, we would welcome food parcels or hay, apples, carrots or bottles of stout!

"If people are not sure what they can do, then please come down to the stables or call me on 024 7639 2397 as there are lots of way of helping."

The appeal comes hot on the hooves after the centre was given a welcome donation which has helped it to buy a much-needed new mounting block to help disabled riders,

The NFU Mutual Community Giving Fund donated £250 towards the cost of the mounting block, which centre bosses say is of a design that is widely used by disabled riding centres and is particularly helpful where riders may need some assistance to mount the horses.

"We are really grateful to have this extra help from the NFU Mutual Community Fund, as we've wanted to get a mounting block of this type for a long time and the extra money meant we could place our order," said the centre manager.

Kathryn Oliphant at the local NFU Mutual Office in Atherstone recommended the NNWEC for a donation and Beth Pritchard, corporate social responsibility executive at NFU Mutual said: "The new mounting block will make a real difference, and we were delighted to give this donation to the Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Equestrian Centre."