Westlake Equine Therapy Centre is to become a major autism-friendly facility for community use and will consist of
- An Equine Therapy centre
- An Education centre
- Respite accommodation for service users and their carers
The site will offer various outdoor activities and services to people in the Cheshire West & Chester (CW&C) and Wirral areas as well as creating around 100 local jobs.
The vision is:
“to establish a unique, accessible autism-friendly community, with a bespoke blend of currently under resourced or not yet available facilities and services”.
Full planning permission has been granted by Cheshire West and Chester Council for services including autism-friendly respite accommodation and educational facilities.
The design of the centre has been developed in conjunction with Wirral-based charity Autism Together (AT), with input from Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). Both charities are also committed to working with us to make the facility a self-sustainable venture in the future and ensure it gives service users the best experience possible.
The Westlake site is to be developed on 25 acres of land in Little Sutton, Cheshire. The site is located among a mixture of agricultural fields and residential developments along the A550, locally known as the Welsh Road. The site is approximately 8 miles from Chester and 6 miles from Ellesmere Port and is located directly opposite the Mercure Woodhey Hotel and the entrance to Berwick Road.
The site is situated 1.2 miles south of Junction 5 of the M53 and less than 1 mile from the A41 which runs through Little Sutton and Great Sutton before leading into Upton and Chester via the A5116.
Nearby rail stations include Little Sutton (0.9 miles), Hooton (1.8 miles) and Capenhurst (2.9 miles). There are also good links to local bus routes from the nearest bus stop on Ledsham Road.
The Cheshire West & Chester (CW&C) and Wirral areas have a higher than the national average number of people with an Autistic Spectrum diagnosis. This is thought to be due in part to the migration of service users and their families to the area because of the excellent reputation and forward thinking of Autism Together (formerly Wirral Autistic Society). Indeed, they currently report a waiting list for their services.
While many people with autism are able to live quite easily in an urban community, there are others for whom this is not an option. These individuals may have extreme sensitivity issues or a complete lack of awareness or fear of community environment issues such as road safety, dogs or other people.
The effect of this hyper-sensitivity can cause anxiety levels to rise and can result in aggression towards themselves, other people and/or their environment.
At the same time there are very real difficulties faced by the service users and their families and carers, who struggle to cope on a daily basis.
Our equine therapy centre will add to the fantastic work already being done to help people on the autistic spectrum and those with other special needs, offering unique therapies that involve interactions with horses.
Other drawings and planning documents can be found on the Cheshire West and Chester Council website here
When everything is completed the project will cost around £3 million. This will be raised through a mixture of donations from charitable trusts and foundations, funding grants, gifts from businesses and orginisations and most importantly you.
We have made good progress already, buying the land, winning planning permission and getting everything ready to start work.
To attract match-funding from major funders we must raise £320,000 to complete stage one of the project – the building of the equine therapy centre.
The project will be completed in four stages. Here are the cost breakdowns for:
Phase 1 – Equine Therapy Unit
Phase 2 – Animal Husbandry, Kitchen Gardens and Horticulture,
Phase 3 – Education and Technology Hub
We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and Every penny you give will go towards will help towards building and maintaining an amazing place where people will find joy and new inspiration through the healing power of horses.
Click here to donate. Thank you
This will provide an invaluable additional service to local families and charities. It will also help to support and encourage the service users to improve their social and skill development, confidence, independence and quality of life.
Should any funders, potential partners or local authorities require them, we can provide:
~ Letters of support,
~ Demonstration of how the project fits local / national autism strategies including the demand and need for the project:
~ CW&C/NHS Autism Strategy 2010-2016
~ Autism Self-Assessment Exercise 2013.
~ National Autism Strategy
~ A survey of carers, released during Carers Week 2014 by national disability charity Vitalise
~ How the design principles have informed the proposal to ensure it meets the specific and complex needs of its users,
~ An explanation of how the facility will be managed and sustained,
~ A clear demonstration of the very special circumstances for gaining planning permission,
~ Documentation from the project’s users and supporters, including Autism Together (formerly Wirral Autistic Society), the Riding for the Disabled Association and The Chester Race Company,
~A fully itemised breakdown of the phased costs.
Please contact us here