Little Lives UK is delighted to be working with Strength & Learning Through Horses as part of our ‘Children’s Community Support Programme’. Our donation will assist them with their efforts in helping children and young people, who have learning difficulties and are experiencing mental health related issues. Their ethos in aiming to support young people in the London community, to help them become confident and happy adults was a major factor in our offer of support.
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More young people than ever are seeking support for their mental health, as being socially isolated away from friends and school has led to many feeling stressed and anxious. It is so important that they receive the necessary support and can access services such as these from Strength and Learning Through Horses, so that their mental health doesn’t have a negative impact on them later on in their lives. They will be offering a short six-week programme designed to help resolve the mental health issues that have arisen because of lockdown on their young members. The programme will help them establish connections, not just with the horses, but with the staff, and the fellow youngsters. These positive relationships that they’ll develop will hugely benefit them with their personal troubles.
Predominantly, they provide equine therapy and assisted learning to vulnerable youngsters all around London. Many of these youngsters have trouble with their mental health, social anxiety, and behavioural and learning difficulties. They find it difficult to engage with normal office based talking therapies, so when they access services such as these, they find it much more beneficial. At Strength & Learning Through Horses, they experience a completely different environment, given they operate outdoors, this challenges the young people in different ways. They mainly work in smaller groups, learning how best to both look after and how to train the horses. This presents them with the opportunity to learn valuable life skills, mainly in teamwork and leadership. The sessions often allow the young people to build their confidence in the knowledge that they can look after the horses, whilst they also learn to be resilient and establish new friendships. Viewing the horses’ behaviour offers the young people an appreciation of how their own behaviours and emotions affect others around them. This means that they learn new techniques that will help them manage their own conduct, improving relations with those around them.
Our donation to Strength and Learning Through Horses will go towards the costs of managing the stable. This will include the costs of yard staff, some of the horses’ equipment and food, along with stable maintenance, without which they would not be able to organise any of their programmes. The well-being of the horses is paramount as they are unsurprisingly a fundamental part of their work. It is essential to guarantee that they are well looked after, which was why we wanted to make a donation and include them as part of our programme.
If you want to be in with a chance to receive a donation from Little Lives UK, then apply through our ‘Children’s Community Support Programme’ page. We are open to receive applications from children’s organisations that are based in London. You can also help us out with our programme, by making a donation today.
