Charity's desperate search for a new home

Change of scene needs to raise £600,000 to support its move to a new location

A Surrey charity which provides animal-assisted learning to disabled young people says it is desperately trying to relocate after discovering its intended permanent home is a shooting ground.

Change of Scene has been running its farm in Farnham for 16 years and says it risks closure if it does not find a new site.

The charity says it needs £600,000 to help purchase land, a building for the children, office, toilets and space to store hay.

Pam Robinson, chief executive, said the charity had found a new site in West Sussex last year but their plans "turned to dust".

Chief executive of Change of Scene, Pam Robinson, says the charity needs to make up for lost time

The charity says it has been looking for a new location for four years.

Ms Robinson said: "We were negotiating with the landowner and estate agents between May and December.

"We were looking at the last bits of signing the lease and we were waiting for some information back from their legal team.

"We put in a pre-planning application to Chichester District Council and then we put in a full planning application on the basis it was going ahead," she said.

"A neighbour contacted us and said that they had third party shooting rights over the land.

"Obviously we can't put children, animals and staff on land where people can shoot."

The charity says without adequate funds it will have to close

Ms Robinson says the charity lost £20,000 and it is "desperately trying to make up for lost time".

Ms Robinson explains although they need to move by June 2026, they hope to find a new home by Easter.

"For some of the children we're the only thing in their lives outside their family and home."

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