A NEW indoor equine therapeutic centre for children has been named after Jack de Bromhead, the teenage son of Henry and Heather who lost his life in a riding accident in 2022.

Funded by €1 million in donations from the de Bromhead family and friends, the facility is located at ChildVision’s campus in Drumcondra, close to Dublin city centre. It will give children who are blind, multi-disabled and neurodiverse access to the best global equine activities in a supportive and purpose designed environment and will allow the ChildVision equine team and volunteers to extend their services to reach more children over more hours making a life-changing difference, especially through the winter months and in bad weather conditions.

Racehorse owner Chris Jones spearheaded the fundraising effort. “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit ChildVision last summer and to see first-hand the therapeutic impact that equine can have on children with complex needs,” he said. “I knew that Henry and Heather already had a connection to ChildVision and, knowing that many friends and family members wanted to find some way to mark Jack’s love of horses in a tangible way, the Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre concept came to fruition. The response to my call for donations was unbelievably kind and generous. It’s a testament to the high regard the de Bromheads are held in, that we are in a position to make the equine centre at ChildVision in Jack’s name, a reality.”

Kenny Alexander, owner of Honeysuckle, has donated the racing colours that Rachael Blackmore wore in all of the major races she and Honeysuckle won, including four Cheltenham Festival victories and nine Irish Grade 1s. The silks, signed by Rachael, Henry and Kenny, will be auctioned at the Goffs Punchestown Sale next Thursday.

The de Bromhead family – Henry, Heather and their daughters Mia and Georgia, said of today’s announcement: “The equine centre will be a wonderful legacy for our beloved Jack, a hugely missed son and brother. Horses are a huge part of our lives, and we know the physical experience of riding a horse offers so many potential benefits, especially helping address a host of physical, social and emotional issues. More so, it will be a place of learning and hope, full of laughter and joy, traits that were such a part of Jack, all facilitated by the much-treasured horses and ponies that call the ChildVision stables home. We are looking forward to following the development and construction of the new equine therapeutic centre and being there to cut the ribbon when it is completed. We are forever grateful to those who came on board to support us – we know Jack would be really proud of what this life-changing generosity will enable.”

Barry Sheridan, ChildVision CEO, commented: “We have an ambitious plan for the ChildVision campus and front and centre was trying to secure funding for an equine therapeutic centre. We had already raised over €500,000 but without this extraordinary fundraising support we would not have been in a position to break ground in 2024 on this vital facility. We would like to thank the de Bromhead family, Chris Jones and the other wonderful benefactors for enabling our dream to come true. We will ensure that Jack’s legacy and that of his loving family, who so generously agreed to share his name with us, will live on for generations to come.”