Tower House Horses CIO

Tower House Horses CIO (THH) was founded in 2011 by Susie Little and Joanne Simpson with the aim of improving the mental health and emotional well-being of vulnerable people by providing therapeutic Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) programmes.  Since then we have helped over 1,000 disadvantaged people in local communities in Hampshire to develop confidence and self-esteem, to build trust, establish healthy boundaries and improve social interactions.  It enables them to make better decisions and improves the ability of those at risk of social exclusion, the marginalised and the vulnerable, to re-build relationships with families, employers and wider communities to fulfil their potential.  Because of their extraordinary empathetic nature, horses can make people feel good about themselves without judgement, blame or confrontation which enables each individual to relax, to recognise and access their own hidden strengths. Interacting with horses is an empowering experience and an innovative approach to identifying the self-limiting beliefs that restrict potential for personal growth and development. THH‘s beneficiary groups include people with anxiety and depression, survivors of domestic abuse, those recovering from substance mis-use, and care leavers. We offer half-day respite sessions for adult carers, & other care workers including front line NHS staff. We also run regular programmes for people referred by their GP’s through the NHS’s Social Prescribing scheme.  We have established a strong track record with commissioners for delivering excellent outcomes as evidenced by our Mapping Positive Outcomes process which provides the basis for monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of the work we do both at an individual and programme level.   The Grants Writer will work in collaboration with our CEO Susie Little to develop and write grant proposals to trusts, foundations and other grant-making organisations.  We have a small amount of corporate funding (an area we would like to develop) and some primary purpose trades work.  However THH has to fundraise over 70% of the funds it needs each year.   We are currently supported by TNLCF, and a number of foundations including Foyle, D'Oyly Carte, Anton Jurgens and Albert Hunt. Your contribution at an organisational level will directly impact our ability to continue to offer our programmes to vulnerable people who are unable to offord the support they so urgently need.  Your impact at the beneficiary level will be enormous.  With the right funding in place a wide range of vulnerable people will by attending an equine assisted therapy programme, gain an emotional toolkit of transferrable skills which will change their lives for the better, giving them new hope for a happier future.