Little Kyla’s emotional plea to help save charity
THERAPEUTIC ANIMAL CENTRE ‘IS LIKE BEING IN HEAVEN’
A SEVEN-year-old girl broke down in tears as she made a heart-wrenching appeal on behalf of an animal centre which has helped her through difficult times.
Kyla spent two years being treated for a rare form of cancer and is now in remission, but the experience left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
She has been given support by The Way of the Horse therapy centre and animal rescue service, which provides equine-based mental health workshops and therapy for both children and adults who have suffered trauma where traditional therapies have failed.
But The Way of the Horse, founded by Dina Shale in 2015, is now facing an uncertain future because its lease is about to expire and the land it uses is set to be redeveloped.
The Way of the Horse has helped hundreds of children such as Kyla, and adults with emotional and mental health challenges, but as it is set to be left with no lease, its funding will be pulled at the end of the month.
And if the charity doesn’t find anywhere within the next few months they will have to close and the horses, ponies and other animals will need to be rehomed.
The centre needs to find a new home quickly and Kyla is on a mission to save the place she loves and pay back the help she’s been given.
The schoolgirl has recorded a video message in the hope it will encourage people to come forward and offer a suitable plot of land to save the charity.
In the touching video, Kyla says: “Hi I’m Kyla, I’m seven years old. I go to the The Way of the Horse and I love it there.
“It’s a special place for me where I feel safe and I get to relax, and I have a favourite pony named Chance, but I still like all of the other ponies, just that he’s the cheeky one out of them all.
“It is the best place you could be, it feels like you’re in Heaven.
“Please, help Dina find new land. She needs it, otherwise she might have to close and I don’t want that.”
Kyla is asked what it would mean if the centre had to close, and replies “I don’t know” before breaking down in tears.
Her mum, Liza Halifax, said: “Kyla is on a mission to save the special place she loves.”