What we do

Jacob’s Den is a new not-for-profit organisation that aims to Develop, Enhance and Nurture wellbeing through horses for children, young people and also those with additional needs or mental health challenges in our community. 

We follow HETI guidelines for the welfare of all our horses, and most of our equines originally came to us from welfare organisations or have been donated to us from homes where they could no longer be cared for.

Our Centre is run by Val Atkin and our volunteers. Val has been an SEND and mainstream teacher for 30 years. Val has owned horses for over 40 years and is a qualified UKCC Pony Club Coach.

Our sessions are non-riding and no experience is necessary. Although our sessions are primarily aimed at all those with additional needs and also LAC children, there are some sessions open to all children. We also offer sessions to SEND adults in our community.

A Saturday morning club runs between 10am and 12:30pm every week. We are also open most Sunday mornings for secondary-age children between 10am and 12:30 pm as well as some evenings in the summer months. We also offer bespoke family/group/individual activities outside of these times, as well as visits to schools and care homes. Please see our sessions page for further details.