Posted on 16th February 2024
British Equestrian has today published a new report on the impact and learnings of Sport England’s Together Fund, which supported over 40 projects with over £285,000 investment between July 2022 and March 2023.
This report details outcomes and learnings from the Together Fund projects, collected via surveys and individual and project case studies. It highlights the influence of equestrian related activities on participants’ mental and physical wellbeing, the impact for centres and charities who carried out the projects, and how this might shape future engagement in equestrianism.
Key figures from the report include:
• A total of £233,738 was allocated to 41 projects with a further £51,891 of support for centres to help with resilience initiatives
• Over 1600 participants engaged in the projects
• 82% of participants said being involved helped control their mental health while 86% felt better placed to manage their physical health
• 93% stated the initiatives enabled them to do more activity than they would have done without the opportunities
• 94% centres who took part in the project attracted new participants.
The Together Fund is major part of Sport England’s support package to help the sport and physical activity sector through the pandemic. Funding was granted via British Equestrian to centres, organisations and charities to provide both on and off-horse activities, aimed at engaging priority audiences including those from lower socio-economic groups, culturally diverse communities or those with physical or learning disabilities.
Mandana Mehran Pour, Head of Participation and Development at British Equestrian commented, “It’s inspiring to see how the funding has helped engage new participants within the equestrian community, people from all backgrounds building relationships, trust and knowledge with the horses and their peers. We are grateful to Sport England for providing this funding.”
Here are some of the projects who used the Together Fund to make a difference in their communities:
The funding enabled Enborne Equestrian Centre, a British Horse Society approved centre, to open its doors to the wider community in the Newbury area. Working with Sport in Mind, they provided opportunities to help those struggling with mental health through the power of horses. A total of 12 participants enjoyed free weekly riding lessons over six consecutive weeks, with one group of juniors and one of adults.
Equine assisted therapy centre SLTH used their funding to run a project for London-based young people who struggle to engage in mainstream education. Through teaching horse care, training and psychology, SLTH helped participants access equestrianism as well as achieving qualifications in these areas. The participants also learned valuable teamwork skills to improve their employability in the future.
The funding supported North Ferriby RDA to provide a bespoke package of equine activities in an alternative learning environment for young people with a range of disabilities engage plus their families who have been struggling post-Covid. Animal assisted therapy has been key to their success with time spent at the centre benefitting participants. Jill Spriggs from North Ferriby RDA, “It has been our pleasure to be able to run the Together Fund project at our centre, it has allowed us the ability to help children and young adults who have experienced challenges with their mental wellbeing.”
Resilience support for centres was also offered through the Together Fund, to help address the challenges they face. Through investing in fundraising support, governance advice and organisational development, the centres feel better equipped to grow and continue to expand with the priority audiences within the Together Fund initiative.
The Together Fund project led to the formation of new partnerships across sporting organisations, opening equestrianism to more opportunities with collaboration projects opening the doors to wider communities and receiving further support. While the funding has helped reduce the financial barriers to participating, keeping these costs low after funding ended has proven difficult, models are being explored to help sustain participants.
Together Fund Project Manager Jemima Morris also commented, “Overseeing these projects as they develop, from the initial application process to delivery has been a pleasure. To watch centres, charities and organisations form new partnerships and the benefits the projects have had for those taking part demonstrates the immeasurable opportunities the equestrian community has to offer.”
The full report is available on the British Equestrian website.
