Equine therapy centre near Lutterworth is facing a desperate make-or-break race against time to survive

The not-for-profit charity could be forced to leave their current site in the next few weeks as the land they rent is set to be sold to housebuilders
By Philip Hibble
Published 15th Oct 2020, 10:44 GMT
Updated 15th Oct 2020, 11:27 GMT
Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.
Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.

An equine therapy centre is facing a desperate make-or-break race against time to survive.

The Way of the Horse has helped and supported hundreds of local adults and children who have suffered trauma and abuse since it was set up on the outskirts of Lutterworth in 2015.

But the highly-successful not-for-profit charity could be forced to leave their current site in the next few weeks as the land they rent is set to be sold to housebuilders.

Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.
Dina Shale, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.

Dina Shale, 49, who founded the Way of the Horse five years ago, is now issuing a powerful SoS to Good Samaritan entrepreneurs to come forward and get behind them to save her thriving venture.

“We need to find a new home now because the clock is ticking and we are fast running out of time.

“We are now helping about 50 people, adults and children, who come to see us from all over the Lutterworth area with mental health issues every week,” she told the Harborough Mail.

“It’s absolutely vital that we find a new base to move to as soon as possible – time is of the essence now.

“We are appealing to businessmen and women to come to our aid and rescue us in the nick of time.

“We need an investor who has a strong belief in mental health and understands all the great work that we do and the range of amazing services that we offer here.

“We have to highlight and showcase our heartbreaking plight like never before as we fight to stay alive.

“Just one special investor can guarantee and secure our future by giving us the money to buy a new home and keeping us afloat for at least the next few years,” said Dina, who leads a dedicated five-strong team.

The seriously-focused mum-of-two said they currently run three highly-tailored support workshops a week as well as welcoming dozens of schoolchildren battling issues such as anxiety and bullying.

“We have put a proper business plan together and we know exactly what we want to do and the sort of set-up that we’d like to buy.

“We have been on this site at Lutterworth for three years.

“Not too many people understand what we do here,” said Dina, who’s from Hinckley.

“We are running programmes for people which are rooted in psychology.

“They are based on advanced emotional agility and there is a lot of science involved.

“As well as helping those with mental health issues, our work is excellent for people who have suffered PTSD as well as those who have had cancer.

“Our horses are so calming and therapeutic for the people we see here.

“They are beautiful animals.

“The horses that we rescue often have psychological issues, too, and they understand the people we work with so well.

“We are helping people on their journey of healing, of getting better, and it’s so rewarding to be able to help them.

“This is also very much my personal journey.

“I had an immense amount of trauma as a child and that’s inspired me to set up the Way of the Horse to help so many others across our entire community here,” said Dina.

“We have managed to pay our rent here for the last three and a half years.

“That just shows that we can pay our way and we are an extremely well-run organisation.

“But I want to stress that we are a not-for-profit good cause and so the banks won’t lend us the money that we need.

“That’s why it’s totally critical that there’s someone out there who has the money and supports what we are doing steps forward and pulls us back from the brink.

“We will need stables as well as an indoor teaching unit and ideally a home for me as well – an old riding school, perhaps, that we could develop over the next five to 10 years.

“I want to create the definitive one-stop mental health shop in the Lutterworth area.

“The Way of the Horse is my overwhelming passion, it is very close to my heart, and I am determined to do all I can to save us and take us forward.”

You can find out much more about the Way of the Horse on their website https://www.thewayofthehorse.co.uk - and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheWayOfTheHorse/You can contact Dina on 07714 269 218 or by email at [email protected]

Related topics:LutterworthPTSD