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Social Responsibility
Since 2002 HorseWorld has worked with the Probation Service to provide hundreds of placements for adults carrying out community service orders. This time spent at HorseWorld has often had positive impacts on the individuals concerned, with some even signing up as volunteers for the charity afterwards.
HorseWorld is also having an impact on the lives of young people, with groups of youth offenders regularly helping out at the charity’s equine yard. In addition, an innovative project with the South Bristol CAF team is using a course in equine care to help teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds and those excluded from school.
The positive influence gained through contact with the horses is recognised by the many different organisations and referral schemes seeking to place individual clients with HorseWorld. HorseWorld has so far taken clients with a range of special needs, learning difficulties, mental health problems and those recovering from addiction. The demand for these places is often higher than the charity is able to satisfy but HorseWorld remains keen to help where possible, in order to enable those facing social exclusion to participate fully in their community.
In 2010, HorseWorld was delighted to learn that we had won the Social Responsibility category in the Bristol Evening Post Business Awards.
Avon & Somerset Probation Trust Community Payback team work closely with HorseWorld. Offenders often help with tasks such as mucking out the fields and barns.
The team are also seeking other projects in the Bristol area.
Examples of these projects are often charities who provide services for the community halls, clubs, residential homes landscaping etc. They would need to be not for profit organisations.
Community Payback is a tough and visible consequence for offenders who have committed a crime. Offenders can receive up to 300 hours, and can involve hacking back dense undergrowth, clearing rubbish or scrubbing graffiti from walls.
Whilst doing this work offenders are required to wear high-visibility jackets to make sure the public are aware of the work they are doing. All offenders doing Community Payback are screened to assess the risk they may pose to the public, and they are closely supervised by professional staff at all times. This is a punishment which aims to support offenders developing skills which maybe transferable to the work place.
Projects can be nominated via the Community Payback website - www.avonandsomersetprobation.org.uk