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Dallas Burston Polo Club names The Shakespeare Hospice as charity partner for 2019


The entertainment and events hub based in Southam has announced a corporate charity partnership with South Warwickshire and North Cotswolds based organisation, The Shakespeare Hospice.


The Shakespeare Hospice supports young people and adults in the local community with a life limiting illness, providing the care and compassion they and their families need. As charity partner for Dallas Burston Polo Club (DBPC), the hospice will benefit from a donation of profits at major events and will have representatives on site raising funds and awareness. The Shakespeare Hospice will be the exclusive beneficiary for the majority of DBPC events throughout 2019.


It was at the Bonfire Night event in November last year that the Polo Club began raising funds for The Shakespeare Hospice. The annual extravaganza saw a record breaking 7000+ attendees enjoying the festivities, with hospice fundraisers on hand with buckets throughout the grounds to take donations from the public. Dallas Burston Polo Club then donated a further £3,000 from ticket sales after the event. Director of Operations at Dallas Burston Polo Club, Major Richard Carney MBE, said, “We have been aware of the fantastic work of The Shakespeare Hospice for some time. After collaborating at the annual Bonfire celebration, and seeing the difference the money donated has made, we knew we wanted to contribute to the cause further. We are therefore delighted to make The Shakespeare Hospice our primary charity partner for 2019.”


Angie Arnold, CEO of The Shakespeare Hospice, said “Our Corporate relationships are key to our support at a time when demand for our services is at an all-time high. Our relationship with Dallas Burston Polo Club, whilst in its infancy, is very exciting. We really appreciate the support offered by the Major and his whole team. We are very much looking forward to working with the team this year.” DBPC has previously helped several great causes. Last year the estate contributed to the Southam in Bloom festivities, sponsored local roller hockey club Midland Mooseheads trip to Spain and provided a safari tent venue for nearly 400 Girl Guides, Brownies, Rainbows and Rangers. The club also contributed to the remembrance war-memorial commissioned in Southam, raised £1,000 at the Charlotte Trophy for Helen & Douglas House and then achieved an astonishing £14,000 in donations on Ladies Day for The UK Sepsis Trust and The Prince’s Trust. Ladies Day alone has raised over £40,000 for various charities over the last 3 years. The Charlotte Trophy remains dedicated to Helen & Douglas House and the Fine & Country Warwickshire Gold Cup will continue to raise funds for the Fine & Country Foundation in 2019. Proceeds from this year’s Ladies Day will be shared between The Shakespeare Hospice and a second charity to be chosen by an external partner.


The multiple award-winning Dallas Burston Polo Club, Pride of Stratford Business of the Year 2018, features Europe’s largest all-weather SuperArena for equestrian events, six polo


www.dbpoloclub.com


Horse Charities Unite in Historic Merger


Redwings Horse Sanctuary has announced a major development in its operations following the completion of a merger with Welsh charity SWHP (Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies) and the establishment of a new centre in Monmouthshire. The merger became official on 1st February 2019 and will see the new centre taking the name Redwings SWHP. The SWHP charity, which was previously based at a site in St Maughans, Wales, has been carrying out vital welfare work for over 40 years and housed more than 60 rescued horses and ponies with about 250 more out on loan.


The former site of SWHP was not


sustainable as it was the home of the founder and former chairman Jenny MacGregor MBE who very sadly passed away in November 2017. Mrs MacGregor and her late husband Alasdair ran the charity from their home for many years and were a real driving force in the animal welfare world. Mrs MacGregor originally began negotiations to merge with Redwings Horse Sanctuary back in 2012 and was fully supportive of the two organisations coming together.


Redwings has now purchased a new site close to Offa’s Dyke near Chepstow and plans have been submitted to the local authority to develop horse care facilities and a visitor centre. The 86-acre site is now home to the previous SWHP equine residents and will offer additional new jobs, as well as the seven existing staff who have transferred there.


Redwings already cares for 1,500 rescued horses and donkeys across England and Scotland, with five visitor centres and several more closed sanctuary farms. The charity conducts rescues right across the United Kingdom, including Wales and Scotland, and also offers support to smaller horse charities in Ireland. Over the last 15 years, Redwings has been working particularly to improve the lives of hundreds of horses across Wales, including leading on a significant project to reduce the numbers grazing illegally on the Welsh commons, and in October 2013 the charity helped rescue over 300 horses and ponies from a site in the Vale of Glamorgan. The merger with SWHP means that Redwings is now responsible for over 2,000 rescued horses across the UK, including 700 living out in Guardian homes.


Redwings Chief Executive Lynn Cutress said: “SWHP is a charity we have admired and worked with closely for many years and a merger has been in the pipeline for a while so I am delighted that it has finally concluded successfully after a great deal of hard work. We have extremely strong links with Wales already and to be able to have a base so close by will really benefit the horses that need our help there.


"The merger process has been extremely Please mention Central Horse News What’s On when responding to advertisements


time-consuming and we would like to thank the staff from both Redwings and SWHP for their hard work and cooperation throughout the process. It’s a privilege to be able to build on the amazing legacy of the MacGregors and the fantastic team they developed; and of course this merger will enable us to help even more horses in desperate need.” SWHP Trustee Sian Lloyd said: “In line with the MacGregor's ethos, 'the horses come first', many hundreds have found wonderful homes and lead fulfilling and very happy lives, bringing a huge amount of joy to their keepers. We are enormously grateful to all our very dedicated supporters for offering homes to our equines which will continue under the stewardship of Redwings.


“Our charity would not have been able to flourish into the much respected charity it is today without our generous supporters, dedicated staff and teams of volunteers. Jenny and Alasdair wanted the charity to be secure and continue to flourish. In merging with Redwings we hope their wonderful legacy will continue in protecting those abused and neglected equines.”


Job vacancies at the new site will be advertised at www.redwings.org.uk and the charity would also welcome applications from anyone interested in volunteering or continuing to volunteer for Redwings in Wales. Existing Guardians of SWHP will be contacted separately as your Guardianship agreement will continue as before but any questions about this or any element of the merger can be directed to info@redwings.co.uk. The new Redwings SWHP site, near Chepstow, is not currently open to visitors. Details of future open days will be made available at www.redwings.org.uk


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grounds, Colonial Clubhouse, wedding venues, the IXL Events Centre and The Millstone Hare, a £2.4m Olde English styled pub with state-of-the-art facilities and incredible views over the grounds. To keep informed of the latest events coming up at Dallas Burston Polo Club, visit


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