Children’s horse therapy charity gets more than £4,000 from Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne

The funding is from the latest part of the Sussex PCC’s Safer in Sussex Community Fund.

Parkfield Equine Solutions in Hurstpierpoint are Sussex’s approved hub for delivering the work of The Horse Course, which helps young people with mental health difficulties and ADHD or those who are at risk of offending.

Katy Bourne visited last week to meet volunteers and trustees, as well as Parkfield Equine Solutions CEO Terri Martinus.

After her visit, she said: “It was a truly inspiring day joining Terri and some of her team at their beautiful location in Sussex. It was clear to see just how effective the programme was and how responsive the horses were to instructions as they were led with resilience and compassion.”

Participants are usually referred to the charity by partners in social services, schools, youth charities or police early intervention programmes. Parkfield Equine Solutions help those young people who are struggling with ‘talk-based therapies’ like counselling.

The recent funding has helped the charity run their ‘Restart’ course. This is a five-day, one-to-one equine-assisted intervention where children and young people can work with horses through a variety of obstacles. The aim is to help them practise core skills like calmness, focus and communication. The course also helps participants learn empathy, confidence in their abilities, and assertiveness instead of aggressiveness.

Katy Bourne said: “It is vital we have services that can provide those who are struggling, with less conventional options. We know if people can’t access support that works for them, they face a higher chance of experiencing social isolation and this can lead to them being more vulnerable to becoming a victim of crime or escalating their negative behaviours.”

Terri Martinus said: “Sussex PCC Katy Bourne has been incredibly supportive of our charity since we opened in April 2019. Not only have we received funding for our youth projects from Katy, but she and her fantastic team have offered us support and advice to secure other funding streams. Through Katy’s office we have also met other likeminded charities and are currently running a pilot project in conjunction with SID Youth, working with a group of young people – funded by Katy’s grant.”