CHILD Vision and the de Bromhead family are grateful to everyone who attended the fundraising night, in aid of the new Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre for children with impaired vision, in the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny, on Monday evening, where close to €15,000 was raised.

The centre is named after the son of Henry de Bromhead, who tragically lost his life in a pony racing accident in 2022. Henry and his wife Heather were present on the evening and Henry gave some great insights about the centre and how Jack’s legacy can live on through helping children in need.

“To think all these people jammed in here tonight and then, that Michael Blake and the Irish Olympic show jumping team organised this event with Liz Brennan and Sharon Fitzpatrick to honour the memory of our Jack is very moving for Heather and I,” de Bromhead said.

Henry told of how the centre came to be named in Jack’s honour. “Unfortunately, Jack had his accident, and a few months later, our friends invited me up to the site in Drumcondra. And if you wanted an uplifting experience, that’s the place you have to go to. It’s incredible what Child Vision do there.

“Chris Jones, a great friend of ours, was brought to the site and he was blown away by it, and he had heard I had been there. This was six months later, and he came up with an idea.

“We ran into each other at the sales and he said that he’d love for the centre to be named in memory of Jack. It was just incredible. Chris got behind us, and some very generous people got involved, and it’s come to fruition, and we’re just so proud of it. Most importantly for us is we know Jack would be so proud. It’s fantastic that his memory lives on, and we all want to play a part in it.”

Incredible place

National Hunt jockey Rachael Blackmore, who has ridden multiple winners for de Bromhead, travelled to Kilkenny from Roscommon Racecourse, where she had ridden a winner only hours before.

Speaking about the Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre, Blackmore said: “It’s an incredible place and they do incredible work. The work that horses can do for kids and to help kids with equine assisted learning is incredible.

“Child Vision does a lot with visually impaired kids, but they work with all different types of children with needs. Horses are so special, and they’ve given me the best days of my life, but having them able to assist with kids as well is phenomenal.”

Irish show jumping chef d’equipe Michael Blake also paid tribute to the work being done by Child Vision, commenting: “The team has only this one night together in Ireland before Paris and we wanted to support the Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre. The growth in the riding for the disabled movement in Ireland has been phenomenal.

“Equine therapy works wonderfully and now visually impaired and blind children will benefit from this initiative. People have travelled long distances to be here and the team and I so appreciate their support.”