An inclusive riding school providing lessons to inner-city children has launched a desperate appeal to secure a new premises.
Park Palace Ponies strives to bring the physical and mental benefits that being around ponies can bring to youngsters in Liverpool. The stables offer a low-cost introduction to riding and equine care to any child who is new to the sport.
When these children know the basics of riding, the stables sign-posts them to larger riding schools elsewhere on Merseyside.
Five years since opening, Park Palace Ponies has introduced 3,000 children to riding, Bridget Griffin, voluntary chair of the board of directors, told Your Horse.
“However, there are now no local riding schools for children to continue their riding journey,” she said. “Many have shut down and those left are at full capacity or too expensive for the young people we work with.
“Since 2020, we have been trying to open a full-sized inner-city, affordable riding school in Aigburth, South Liverpool. We have finally found eleven acres of land for sale, which is enough to establish a small riding school with eight horses. The current owners of the land are desperate for it to become a riding school so as to avoid it becoming just another residential development site. We have been in talks with the local authority about funding the site but are getting nowhere.
“Since then, we have been trying to raise the development money we need to do this: £75,000 by 22nd May. We operate as a social enterprise, run by volunteers and have set up a crowdfunding page for people to pledge donations towards the £75,000.
“We need people to share our page as widely as possible.”
To support the appeal, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/walkers-woods-riding-school
