Home / Lifestyle / Disabled Riders Secure Lifeline as Middlesbrough's Unicorn Centre Avoids Closure
Disabled Riders Secure Lifeline as Middlesbrough's Unicorn Centre Avoids Closure
13 Nov, 2025
Summary
- Unicorn Centre, open since 1998, provides riding for disabled and learning-disabled
- Faced closure due to rising costs and lack of funds
- New management team develops 5-year plan with RDA support
- Centre described as "special place" where disabled find "freedom, happiness and confidence"
In a positive turn of events, Middlesbrough's Unicorn Centre, a horse riding facility that has been providing opportunities for those with disabilities and learning difficulties since 1998, has secured six months of short-term support to avoid closure.
The centre, which was facing the threat of shutting down due to rising costs and a lack of funds, has a new management team that has developed a five-year plan and secured guaranteed financial support from the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). Interim operations manager Kim Upton has expressed confidence that the local community will "rally round" to ensure the centre's future.
Upton described the Unicorn Centre as a "special place" where disabled people have found "freedom, happiness and confidence through the power of horses" for the past 25 years. The RDA has also acknowledged the centre's vital role in the community, stating that its "scale and importance" compel the organization to provide short-term stability while the local community takes the lead in securing the centre's long-term future.
