Take The Reins

Take The Reins is our equine-assisted programme for young people aged 14–25 across South East Scotland and Northumberland — young people facing the barriers mainstream provision too often can't reach: SEND, generational poverty, rural isolation with no transport, care experience, school exclusion or contact with the justice system.

It runs on our off-grid, reclaimed site, among our rescued horses and regenerated nature — a place where young people are met as they are. Horses don't judge; they respond honestly, and that's where the change begins. Through trauma-informed coaching, accredited learning and intensive financial-capability camps, young people build confidence, skills and a real route into work, training or further education.

What makes it ours is that it's led by lived experience and shaped by young people themselves — who help steer the work and, increasingly, lead it. We work alongside trusted partners including Action for Children, Care for Calais, the Scottish Anti-Racism Observatory and Creating Hope Together, Scotland's national suicide-prevention strategy, with university researchers evidencing what works.

Our aim is simple: fewer young people written off, and more of them shaping the decisions that affect their lives.