Park Lane Stables in Teddington, London, has been saved after reaching its £1m crowd funding target.
At the beginning of the week the stables hadn’t reached the half-way point of its target, but TV coverage on Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast and ITV’s This Morning saw them receive more than £500,000 in donations in just 24 hours.
Celebrities have also shared their support, including Clare Balding, Rob Brydon and Eastenders actor John Altman who played villain Nick Cotton.
It means the stables will be able to buy its site and secure its long-term future.
Park Lane Stables centre manager, Natalie O’Rourke, said: “We’ve done it! Thank you so much for all of your support so far. The big donations have been fantastic and lifted our spirits every time, but to those who pledged their pocket money, and all the people who gave £5 and £10 and said, ‘sorry I can’t give more’, we and our staff and RDA riders would like to say a huge thank you.
“Between us, we made it happen!”
At the time of writing, the Park Lane Stables Crowdfunder page had reached £1,232,335.
“We still welcome any extra support; we’re a charity with ongoing costs and every little really does help. As you can imagine, the upkeep of 23 horses is no mean feat, with food, vet bills and general running costs,” added Natalie.
“With additional funds we would be able to secure our future existence. We would also be able to purchase land for our horses to graze and build our own secure arena that could be used for RDA riding and carriage driving sessions for our participants.”
Its London location is crucial for many of the adults and children who use the stables due to it being accessible by public transport.
“Many of our riders are visually impaired so driving is not an option and they need to rely on public transport. If we were based in a rural location they wouldn’t be able to get to us,” added Natalie.
