Clwyd Special Riding Centre financial crisis

[Tiddlypom]

This is a fabulous special riding centre where I used to volunteer before I had the lads. It was quite a trek to get there, but the facilities and set up were so good that it was worth it.

Don’t know why the appeal has been launched so late, but apparently they need to raise £365,000 by May 1 2025 .

A tall order indeed, but here’s the link to the crowd funding appeal.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/clwyd-special-riding-centre-in-financial-crisis

 

[Snowfilly]

Ooof that is very very late notice. I wish they hadn’t left it so late so there might have been time to draw some media attention and actually take action on it.

Sadly, a lot of the special needs sports clubs I was involved with locally have all folded, and they had much lower running costs than anything horse based. There just isn’t the funding anymore.

 

[HopOnTrot]

Seems odd that they aren’t giving any details on what the third of a million pounds are actually for? Or have I missed that?

 

[Tiddlypom]

There’s very little more that I can see than is written in the hastily launched fundraiser. I don’t know the background to all of this.

If I hadn’t known first hand of the place I’d have scrolled on by.

 

[webble]

Whenever I have been its been pretty quiet. Their previous head of equine left last year and she had done a lot to try and raise money such as hiring our their simulator and offering park and hack facilities, it has all been v quiet since then. Its a shame its beautiful hacking country

 

[HopOnTrot]

It's a LOT of money, if it's for day to day operating costs why is it so much, so quickly, is it for capital expenditure? Do they need land/arena/horses?

 

[Tiddlypom]

They had/have land, an indoor school, an off-road driving track and many horses and ponies.

The RDA group I helped with there on one morning a week had to raise all of their own operating costs and source all of their volunteers themselves, as did the other groups using it.

 

[photo_jo]

It's a place that has done so much good

 

[MurphysMinder]

I only saw the appeal earlier this week when it was shared by my vets, it does seem very late notice. I go to agility shows at another RDA venue which seems to host a lot of other activities to bring in income but it's obviously too late to suggest this.

 

[Haniki]

Our local disabled activity/riding centre (Calvert Trust on Exmoor) had a similar financial crisis last year and had to raise £500,000 by the end of August to stay open. It managed it and several businesses stepped in to help.

 

[Suechoccy]

Looks like operating costs from this sentence from their facebook post:

"To put it plainly: Our annual running cost is £365,000. We are currently facing a major shortfall. Without immediate pledges and support, we will have to close."

 

[mariew]

Sounds similar to what Calvert trust did here in Devon last year. They managed to raise about 3-400k in a month. They need to try to hit all news channels possible. The urgency sometimes spur people on to help.

 

[HopOnTrot]

I run a business, I don’t need 100% of my annual running costs in the bank, it sounds like a poor business model or mismanagement and it’s very threatening to state they’ll cease trading if they don’t have running costs for March 2026 in the bank.

 

[teapot]

Wonder what they owe financially? Loans or otherwise. It's such a specific amount I wonder whether it's meant for specific things and they're trying to ensure those are covered before anything else. Wish them well on that sort of deadline

 

[Tiddlypom]

Over £60k raised in a few days which is an great achievement, but way to go.

I’ve been reading older posts on tbe CSRC FB page and there’s just the usual stuff about upcoming activities etc until they dropped the bombshell of imminent closure. You have to wonder just what has led up to this very short notice.

 

[mariew]

Yup, you have to wonder if they really need it or are just drumming up an urgency to get a large chunk of money. Have they said what they need it for?

 

[Tiddlypom]

£80k raised so far and a sudden two month reprieve. Not at all convinced about the tactics being used here.

We are very happy to confirm that the Centre will remain open, and sessions will continue as planned from Thursday 1st May.

We know how uncertain the past week has been, and we are so grateful for the patience, resilience, and loyalty shown by our team and community.

This development also allows us to extend our Crowdfunding campaign deadline to 23rd May, giving us more time to raise vital funds and to strengthen the foundation we need for a sustainable future.

UPDATE: Save Our Centre — Clwyd Special Riding Centre

www.clwydspecialridingcentre.co.uk