2nd February 2006
The Brooke, Britain’s largest overseas equine welfare charity, is appealing to the public to make July a special month for animals by taking part in Courses for Horses, a national fundraising initiative to help horses that suffer most in the world.
Last year people across the country held Courses for Horses events at work, school, riding stables, at racecourses and at home – and tens of thousands of horses and donkeys overseas have been helped because of it.
This year Courses for Horses month will include events ranging from cake bakes to Hobby Horse Grand Nationals to sponsored rides and walks. Courses for Horses fundraising packs are available* – full of simple, fun ideas including posters, stickers and cake bake decorations.
The horse racing industry will also be supporting Courses for Horses with events on racecourses up and down the country, and trainers opening their yards – with all the money raised to be matched by the Brooke’s lead sponsor, Betfair - the UK’s leading online sports betting exchange*.
The Brooke runs a network of mobile veterinary teams and veterinary field clinics in developing countries reaching 500,000 equine animals in need every year - animals that support the livelihoods of over three million people. Money raised by Courses for Horses will help the Brooke extend its reach from half a million to five million equine animals that desperately need help in the developing world, in so doing, protecting the livelihoods of many millions of vulnerable people worldwide.
Every penny goes a long way in the countries where Brooke’s vets work providing animal welfare advice and treatment - £1 will provide canvas water bucket to prevent a horse or donkey collapsing from thirst, £50 will keep a mobile veterinary team running for a day and helping as many as 70 animals, and £1,000 will train a new Brooke vet who, over a year, will reach thousands of suffering horses, donkeys and mules.
The Brooke is supported by celebrities including Jilly Cooper, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Lisa B, Pam St Clements, William Roache and Denise Welch; celebrity vets Emma Milne and Scott Miller and the UK’s foremost racing and equestrian figures including Sir Peter O’Sullevan, leading flat and jump jockeys AP McCoy and Frankie Dettori, Olympic medallist eventers Pippa Funnell and Leslie Law, and show jumper Ellen Whitaker.
To view pictures of some of our celebrity supporters click here
Editors Notes:
*The Brooke is the charity of the year of both the online sports betting exchange company, Betfair, and the National Trainers Federation. This year, Betfair has pledged to match funds raised by the horseracing industry up to a total of £125,000 – meaning a possible £250,000 to the Brooke to help alleviate the suffering of horses overseas.
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