South Warwickshire horse sanctuary near Kineton announces it will close permantly
Redwings, the popular horse sanctuary at Oxhill, near Kineton has announced it will close permanently.
It is one of two of Redwings’ homes for neglected and abandoned horses that will close. The other is in Forfar, Scotland. It follows consultation with staff.
Both visitor centres are now closed to visitors with immediate effect. Twenty-one staff members at Oxhill will lose their jobs. It has been operating as a visitor centre for almost twenty years. The Oxhill farm and the Redwings Mountains centre in Forfar are the most expensive for Redwings to maintain.
Chief Executive Lynn Cutress said said today: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the closure of two of our visitor centres, Redwings Mountains in Forfar, Angus, and Redwings Oxhill in Warwickshire, following a period of staff consultation. Both visitor centres are now closed to visitors, with immediate effect.
"We are so sorry to share that 33 staff members have been made redundant across the two sites and all staff have been offered wellbeing support and help to find alternative employment wherever possible.
"We would like to thank them most sincerely for all their hard work and dedication and wish them every success in the future.”
All the resident horses and donkeys at the two sites will be relocated to Redwings’ Norfolk sites. Anyone who supports Redwings by sponsoring a horse or donkey at one of these centres will receive further information from the organisation.
“Every horse affected has a new home ready and waiting for them at our Norfolk sanctuary sites,” Ms Cutress said. “Neither of these centres took in rescue cases directly, so the closure does not affect Redwings’ ability to rescue horses from anywhere in the country, as we have always done.
"We will continue to help horses in need, wherever and whenever we can. However, these closures do save vital and significant operating costs long-term, allowing us to secure the future of the 1000+ horses in our sanctuary care who rely on us every day.
“Businesses and charities across the country are struggling severely – Redwings is certainly not alone. Needing to use our reserves to cover the gap between our income and our expenditure with costs continuing to rise is simply not sustainable.
"We have been in a period of financial review for nearly two years, including seeking specialist external advice and although we always hoped it would not be necessary to make such changes, with the economic climate as it is, our Board of Trustees concluded that there was no viable alternative other than to proceed in the way proposed.”
Redwings said that although the closures announced today will make a difference in terms of day to day running costs, it will continue to need support and it appealed to supporters to continue making donations.
“Thank you so much everyone for your understanding and support as always. We have been overwhelmed by your kind messages, suggestions and donations, and we are so very grateful. We're incredibly sorry to bring you such sad news,” they said.
One follower on Facebook said she had been hugely impressed by the way Redwings rehabilitated rescued horses.
"We will miss visiting you at Oxhill - it's been my favourite place to visit for a long time,” she said.