The Caldecott Foundation have two beautiful rocking horses in reception which are used on a daily basis by our children. We have a long and rich history when it comes to rocking horses as this photo from the archives shows.

One of our horses is an antique F H Ayres horse made ca 1890 - just how many children will have enjoyed him or her is mind-blowing. As adults at Caldecott, we don't name or gender the horses, as we know each child has their own name for them - and they are very much loved.

Mr Stevenson from Stevenson Brothers (the fabulous Kent-based rocking horse manufacturers who make rocking horses for royalty https://www.stevensonbros.com/), came to look at our horse and gave some advice on this one which needs some TLC.

We need to remove the horse from the stand, take it apart, sand it down and glue and wedge it back together to remove the wobble.

The horse needs to have tack removed, fill in the gesso plaster work, and replace missing parts. Replace with the correct eyes, fit new tack and a Royal Blue Blanket embroidered with the Caldecott Sunshine Logo on one side. We would like to also pay tribute to the role the Brabourne family have played in our Charity over the year, so would like to put (with permission) their family crest on the other side.

The cost (including VAT) of these works is £3,036.

Whilst a new horse would be lovely, it would also be around £10,000 and wouldn't have the heritage or memories of all our children riding it over the years, so we really do want to repair the one we have. (Although of course if anyone wants to buy us another one as well, we would love a Unicorn!)

So we are appealing to all our friends, alumni and supporters. If you are able to contribute towards making our rocking horse restoration a reality we would be most grateful. If everyone can give a little we will soon have raised a lot, and will see us Rocking well for another 30-40 years!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to us, so it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for our charity.