Bristol horse therapy centre under threat of closure due to pandemic

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A Bristol charity which uses horses to improve the lives of disabled and disadvantaged people is under threat of closure unless it can raise vital funds.

The Avon Centre needs £50,000 to help it recover losses suffered during lockdown. It has been a vital resource for hundreds of people including, most recently, Bath's Pride of Britain Winner Harmonie-Rose Allen.

The centre supports children and adults with additional needs through equine and nature-based activities and has been open for 40 years. It is now at risk of having to permanently close, it says, in the coming four to six months "unless significant funds are raised".

In an online campaign to raise money, the centre says it has six weeks to raise enough to remain open and continue to support more than 300 disabled children and adults.

Harmonie-Rose uses the horse simulator to get core strength. Credit: ITV West Country

'It's made her core a lot stronger'

Seven-year-old Harmonie-Rose is one of the people the charity helps.

She lost her arms and legs to meningitis, but went on to take part in the Bath Half Marathon after completing various other physical challenges during the first lockdown.

She has since won the Child of Courage Award at the Pride of Britain Awards.

Therapy at the Avon Centre has given Harmonie-Rose vital new-found strength through the riding simulator.

"It exercises me and it feels wonderful being on the sim, it stretches out my legs and it's just really fun", she told ITV News.

Her mother Freya Hall said it has been vital in making her stronger with her prosthetics.

"She had no confidence in walking on her blades or her prosthetics at all and it was a constant battle just putting them on, but by being on the sim it's made her so much more comfortable and it's made her core a lot stronger", she said.

Harmonie-Rose is one of hundreds to benefit from what this centre has provided for more than 40 years.

Claire Schimmer, CEO of The Avon Centre Credit: ITV West Country

'Without having it we leave a lot of families hanging in the balance'

Physiotherapist Jo McMeechan says the centre's inclusivity and opportunity for all, regardless of age or ability, is too valuable to the community to lose.

"Without that we close the doors and we stop bridging the gap between therapy and fun essentially, and without having that we leave a lot of families hanging in the balance with long waiting lists and a lack of resources, particularly post-covid", she said.

Income streams stopped for the centre after it was closed by the pandemic, leaving it struggling to pay for the horses upkeep. Payments from benefactors is the only thing currently keeping it going.

Avon Riding Center's CEO Claire Schimmer told ITV News: "We have to be able to be quite adaptable which impacts our income, so I can't guarantee that what we could potentially be doing in terms of bringing in money is going to actually happen, because I might not have the staff to do it. So I'm not sure we're over the hill yet and it's going to be tricky for all of us."