EMW Sanctuary

I really cannot see a happy ending here unless they widen the area of acceptability. Someone has said there's 28 acres nearby but because there's no buildings it's not suitable. Surely a mobile field shelter or two would suffice for the time being rather than just throw in the towel.i really hope they find somewhere to go too very soon and that the good work they do can continue. I think this will be my last post about EMW there's so much negativity coming from Elaine it's definitely a we're defeated instead of can do. I've been in the same position myself loosing home and business and having to start over it was a terrible time and I felt physically sick at times but life went on. I had to PTS and old pony who wouldn't have been happy with the move,and sold a youngster but managed to keep one. It was difficult but we made a life. I don't give up and have everything PTS just because they've lost Lodore farm.
 
SantaVera said:
I really cannot see a happy ending here unless they widen the area of acceptability. Someone has said there's 28 acres nearby but because there's no buildings it's not suitable. Surely a mobile field shelter or two would suffice for the time being rather than just throw in the towel.i really hope they find somewhere to go too very soon and that the good work they do can continue. I think this will be my last post about EMW there's so much negativity coming from Elaine it's definitely a we're defeated instead of can do. I've been in the same position myself loosing home and business and having to start over it was a terrible time and I felt physically sick at times but life went on. I had to PTS and old pony who wouldn't have been happy with the move,and sold a youngster but managed to keep one. It was difficult but we made a life. I don't give up and have everything PTS just because they've lost Lodore farm.
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Playing Devil's advocate a little here, and I haven't kept up with the charity for years now, so have only seen what's been posted on the thread, but maybe Elaine is feeling tired and doesn't want to take 'just anything'. Maybe she only wants to carry on if somewhere that fits the bill can be found. I assume she's there daily and does a large part of the care herself? Maybe she doesn't want to try and manage on 28 acres with no permanent buildings.

If she's had 24 years in the current place, and shaped it over that time to make the property work for the needs of the animals they have, whilst at the same time building the charity up, maybe there is no energy left to start again from scratch, but with an existing head count of animals.

It's not just a home for the animals that is being sought, but also a place for the humans that look after the animals, to be able to look after the animals.

Whilst the requirements list may be very niche, maybe that's the only way that Elaine can contemplate starting again.

As I said, I haven't followed for years, so I don't know how many staff are involved in daily care, how much Elaine does on the care side, or how many other trustees etc are involved, but I assume Elaine still bears a lot of the responsibility. Sometimes, when you've been fighting for years for a cause, the slightest thing can become 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. And losing your property is more than a slight thing.

PTS is not a welfare issue.
 
SantaVera said:
I really cannot see a happy ending here unless they widen the area of acceptability. Someone has said there's 28 acres nearby but because there's no buildings it's not suitable. Surely a mobile field shelter or two would suffice for the time being rather than just throw in the towel.i really hope they find somewhere to go too very soon and that the good work they do can continue. I think this will be my last post about EMW there's so much negativity coming from Elaine it's definitely a we're defeated instead of can do. I've been in the same position myself loosing home and business and having to start over it was a terrible time and I felt physically sick at times but life went on. I had to PTS and old pony who wouldn't have been happy with the move,and sold a youngster but managed to keep one. It was difficult but we made a life. I don't give up and have everything PTS just because they've lost Lodore farm.
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"An update from Sam.
10th December 2024.

Once again we (TEAM EMW) want to say a massive THANK YOU to every one of you who continue to support us in every way possible. Please don’t think it is going unnoticed, it really isn’t. We are truly overwhelmed with the number of kind supportive y we are receiving, along with the likes, shares and of course the donations. We couldn’t ask for a more amazing group of people around us right now. You are all incredible ❤️

Sadly, as is the way with anything that is put out on a public forum, we have been subjected to some rather vile, unsupportive and quite frankly disgusting messages too. I can categorically state that this crisis is genuine, why the hell would we want put ourselves through this devastation for a bit of self promotion! We wouldn’t and believe me when I say this, this is breaking us. 😔
We are not doing the crisis updates to ‘emotionally blackmail’ anybody. We (EMW) have always been honest and open…..just read back through the years and years of daily blogs to see that for yourself. The harsh reality of our desperate situation is WE ARE going to lose the sanctuary and the resident horses future, along with the charity, right now, is about as uncertain as it is possible to get.
Lastly, and quite possibly the worst one so far, is we are not ‘murdering’ anyone. That delightfully worded comment is presumably in reference to our original statement where PTS was mentioned.
These horses and ponies have, in some cases, never known a life away from the sanctuary, they all have their own specific needs and health issues, which is why they have remained in the sanctuary for years.
They also have their own bonds/small herds and to split them up and send them off to an unknown environment and future is not something we as their care givers will do. We know that PTS is an extremely emotive subject and again I cannot stress this enough…….THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT.
We (EMW TEAM) are doing everything we can to find a new premises within close proximity to Bromyard (HR7 4**) Herefordshire. We are aware that this limits our options, however should we be unsuccessful in finding somewhere close by, we will widen our search as we see fit. All of our efforts are now being concentrated on this, therefore we will not be updating this page until we have some ‘concrete’ information to share.
All commenting will be switched off for the time being as we put all our efforts in to saving our sanctuary.

Please note anybody who would like to discuss helping this charity then I ask that you contact me directly via Messenger. (Samantha Millward)

Please do not contact Elaine directly, she is totally and utterly devastated by what has happened, she is in her 70’s herself and she is watching everything she has ever worked for be taken away from her and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Elaine (as we all do) loves those horses more than life itself and it is breaking her heart every single time she looks at them. She is also watching Bryan, our friend and fellow Trustee, also in his mid 70’s trying to prepare himself to lose everything due to none of his own doing. 😔

With that said I do want to state that we definitely haven’t given up, we are still fighting and it’s not over until it’s over. 🙏🏻🤞🏻We are not quite two weeks into this and look what you amazing people have done. 💗

If you do know of anybody looking to rent/lease a small holding/yard/paddocks with shelter. A minimum of 5 acres, but ideally 15-20 acres with storage, mains water, electricity and either stables/barns/shelters or the ability to put them on the land PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us know. 🙏🏻

Thank you for reading and thank you again to every single one of you who are and have been so incredibly kind. 🩷"


Does that make it better for you?

ETA- I'm sure that security will also be an issue, which is why they don't share their sanctuary address, which you've now done. 🙄 I hope that doesn't cause them any further issues.
 
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In addition to all of this, it's very easy to picture '28 acres nearby but no buildings' as a perfect piece of ground, just waiting to be grazed by horses and have some buildings put on it.

Quite often, ground is unsuitable for horses, be it due to the gradient, soil type, land classification, drainage, access, etc etc. And as someone pointed out on FB, planning for ANYTHING is a major consideration and can't be relied on being granted.

Also we mustn't forget we're in December, with the worst of the weather to come.

Even when purchasing land it isn't nearly as simple as just looking through some adverts and picking the one you want. It can take a very long time to find something with even just potential to be remotely what you need.

Hopefully the farm will take time to sell, and hopefully there is an AOC (Agricultural Occupancy Clause) which should slow up the sale a bit further all being well. (Though not if it makes people's situations worse, just from the point of view of giving EMW more time to find somewhere.)

(ETA: Fencing, water provision, proximity to dangerous roads, public access, I'm sure there are many more aspects which aren't springing to mind too... Oh, poisonous trees, historical ragwort control...)
 
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I’m pleased to hear that Equine Market Watch are still operating. They have recently taken in a 26 year pony that was due to be sold at auction. They have named him Buzz. It’s been mentioned on this thread.

Meredith

Thread 'Brecon Sales 15/06/25'


Anyone know how things are ongoing with keeping Equine Market Watch running? The GFM raised £12k, but the target was £500k. Did they get a stay of eviction?
 
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I've seen no mention of it in the daily posts. I'm very sceptical that it was anything to do with a will or inheritance by other family members as that doesn't result in the bailiffs suddenly turning up at your door demanding a large sum of money, there's a legal process to be followed. That's what happens when you don't pay the mortgage and also don't engage with the lender who then calls in the entirety of the loan. A £500k loan on a £1.5million property should have had other options for financing, especially as the owner was elderly. I did see that the property was on the market at one point.
 
nutjob said:
I've seen no mention of it in the daily posts. I'm very sceptical that it was anything to do with a will or inheritance by other family members as that doesn't result in the bailiffs suddenly turning up at your door demanding a large sum of money, there's a legal process to be followed. That's what happens when you don't pay the mortgage and also don't engage with the lender who then calls in the entirety of the loan. A £500k loan on a £1.5million property should have had other options for financing, especially as the owner was elderly. I did see that the property was on the market at one point.
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Makes me wonder if it was something to do with equity release
 
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