Horse riding charity moves into new £2.2m facility

Trewen Meadows cost £2.2 million to build after four years of fundraising

A charity that provides riding therapy for people with disabilities has moved into its new £2.2 million state of the art facility near Ross of Wye, Herefordshire.

The Herefordshire Riding for the Disabled Association raised the funds over four years, which chairman David Harding admitted took "a lot of hard work".

The facility, named Trewen Meadows, has also been designed to offer help to people suffering from loneliness, dementia and anxiety, as well as victims of abuse and military veterans.

Centre manager Claire Chandler said: "Words can't really describe how amazing it feels to be at the centre now. We've got everything we want, our dreams have come true."

She added: "Our horses are loving life and enjoying being in this wonderful facility.

"They're so settled here and happy, they just love coming into the stables to be able to come in and see all of the clients.

"The volunteers are absolutely ecstatic. They're so happy with the environment and they think it's a joy to come here."

Ms Chandler said the horses were "loving life" in their new facility

The charity relocated from Holme Lacy College to its own base between Whitchurch and Llangrove.

Discussing the fundraising effort, Mr Harding said: "It's been a wonderful achievement from everybody concerned.

"Raising the money - £2.2 million - it's taken four years and it's been a lot of hard work, and as you can imagine it's been a difficult climate to do that in.

"We've had some extremely generous donations from trusts, foundations and organisations, as well as our own clients and supporters.

"We've ended up with a magnificent centre but it certainly hasn't been easy to raise that amount of money and we're so grateful."