Welcome donation to help rescued horses and ponies

A five-figure donation has been made to help the work of Redwings Mountains near Forfar, which is currently home to more than 100 rescued horses and ponies.

The Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust gifted £14,004 to replace and repair paddock fencing at the Glen Ogil facility, formerly known as Mountains Animal Sanctuary.

The centre, established by former Kent man Alan Fraser, merged with Redwings in 2015 and houses horses, ponies, donkeys and mules rescued from across the country.

Three of its large paddocks are no longer in use due to urgent repairs needed to fencing and the new support will bring them back into operation.

The charitable trust previously supported a successful five-day project led by the horse rescue charity in September 2016, which saw a number of equine welfare organisations come together to health-check, passport and microchip over 160 semi-feral ponies living on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.

Redwings chief executive Lynn Cutress said: “With so many equines still in desperate need of help, we’ve been investing in the facilities since our merger in 2015 to offer a safe home to even more rescued horses, and provide a beautiful and welcoming space for our visitors. Redwings is a charity 100% funded by public donations so this wonderful gift to replenish our fencing really will go a long way in helping us make these goals a reality.”

The Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust said: “We’re delighted to support the charity with a grant for fencing at its newest visitor centre.”

The centre is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10am to 4pm.

The charity has welcomed the five-figure donation.