Governance
Chartable Purpose
The main object for which the Company is established is to promote horse riding and related activities by adopting a structured training program and providing trained personnel to assist and encourage the youth, longterm unemployed and disadvantaged of the community to develop their equine skills.
- To acquire land for the purpose of developing an equine centre in the Cherry Orchard community;
- To provide such facilities for indoor and outdoor equine activities for the Cherry Orchard community as the Directors see fit;
- To develop educational training, employment and enterprise opportunities;
- To promote the maintenance and training of horses in the Cherry Orchard community;
- To promote the equine project as a centre for the development of educational and cultural activities for the community; and
- To provide active preparation for employment in the horse and other industries.
Our Vision:
“An ambitious and committed Cherry Orchard community where children are given every chance in life”
Our Mission Statement:
“To create and sustain a unique, community led, equine centred, learning environment dedicated to the needs of young people through the provision of state recognised qualifications and recreational activities.”
The values statement of the centre contains four cornerstones of our approach for dealing with young people:
• That young people freely choose to participate in our project;
• That the strength of the relationship between the young person and the staff member is fundamental to our work;
• That we treat young people with respect, equality and dignity; and
• That we actively promote a society that treats young people fairly and equally.
The centre’s philosophy approach is based on concepts of justice and equality and acknowledges that society does not treat all young people equally.
Structure
Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre operate a number of services and programmes. Whilst the Centre operates as an integrated project, to fulfil funder requirements there are two separate limited companies in place with two separate boards of directors.
Cherry Orchard Community Training Centre CLG.
Our Community Training Centre, funded by the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB), is overseen by the Board of Cherry Orchard Community Training Centre Ltd. It is a requirement of the funding received from the CDETB that the Training Centre has its own autonomous Board. The General Manager of the Training Centre reports to this Board directly. The Training Centre, whilst governed by a separate Board, is very much part of the integrated service delivery philosophy in place at the Centre. The General Manager works closely alongside the CEO of Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre to ensure services are delivered in a seamless and integrated manner.
Cherry Orchard Equine Centre CLG.
All other services and programmes are governed by the Board of Cherry Orchard Equine Centre Ltd. This includes the Integrated Youth Services, Equestrian Centre, CODY Garda Youth Diversion Project, Cherry Orchard Pony Club and the Community Services Programme. The Chief Executive Officer reports to the Board of the Equine Centre on all of these services and programmes. The Chairpersons of both companies and the managers work closely together to ensure that all of the services, regardless of what company they are governed by, are delivered by way of an integrated model and are seamless to the young people and their families in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot. The trading name of the company is Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre which encompasses all services together.
Youth Services
Equestrian Centre
CODY Garda Youth Diversion Project
Pony Club
Community Services Programme
Cherry Orchard Equine Centre CLG. is managed and governed by a voluntary board of management. The Board is strategically comprised of persons from a range of backgrounds including local residents, local elected representatives, officials from the Local Authority as well as experts with considerable experience in areas including accounting, governance, local development, education and training, youth services and strategic management.
Company details are as follows:
Registered Name: Cherry Orchard Equine Centre CLG.
Registered Address: Cherry Orchard Green, Cherry Orchard, Dublin D10 XW08
Company Number: 306237
CHY Number: 12986
Registered Charity Number: 20039264
Board Members
Patricia Williams
Brian Kenny
Patrick Cullen
Dave O Donavan
Jane Tegerdine
Elaine Hatton
Cllr. Vincent Jackson
John Moore
Community Representative
Independent Industry Representative
Community Representative
Local Authority Representative
People & Culture
Equine Industry
Independent Youth Sector Representative
Community Representative
Company Officers
Funding
Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre is mostly reliant on funding from state agencies and organisations. The Centre earns a small amount of income from horse riding programmes and rental charges.
CDETB
The City of Dublin Education and Training Board funds our Community Training Centre. This funding includes not only the running of the Training Centre but also payment of a training allowance to all 45 of the trainees enrolled on courses.
CDYSB
The City of Dublin Youth Service Board funds our Integrated Youth Service. The funding is for staffing, programme activities and overhead contributions to running costs.
Pobal
Pobal fund the Community Services Programme which provides a payroll grant for 11 full time equivalent positions at the minimum wage. There are 15 people employed under this programme, some of whom are part time.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice funds our Garda Youth Diversion Project. This funding is used for employing two youth justice workers as well as programme activities and contributions to running costs.
Department of Environment
The Department of Environment used to provide funding to the Centre under the Local and Community Development Programme. This programme was discontinued in March 2015. The Department of Environment agreed a new funding structure for the Centre to continue on from the old programme under a new arrangement. This income is used to fund the Centre Manager, Accountant/Administrator and a contribution towards overheads for the Centre as well as provide Accounting and Administration support.
Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council provided capital funding to build our Centre in 1999 and has continued to support the Centre at varying levels over the past twelve years. The City Council has played a crucial role in ensuring that the facility has been able to withstand all of the funding cuts in recent years in acknowledgement of the critical role it plays in Cherry Orchard. The Centre is owned by Dublin City Council and leased to Cherry Orchard Equine Centre Ltd.
Earned Income
The Centre earns a small amount of income from horse riding programmes, rental charges, sponsorship and donations from the public.
Sponsors
We are very fortunate to receive sponsorship and donations from a range of sources each year.
The local business community has been very generous to us in the past supporting the work that we do.
In 2014 we decided to erect acknowledgement signage around our indoor horse marking the sponsorship and donations that we receive.
Local businesses like this approach as it gives them exposure and advertising for their kind donations.
At present we have spaces available around our indoor arena for any businesses in the local community who would like to support our Centre and also advertise their business.
Further details can be obtained by contacting mark@cherryorchard.ie.
Sponsors
Facilities
Cherry Orchard Equine Centre CLG is a state of the art, purpose built equestrian training centre featuring a range of services and programmes to support young people through the challenges of growing up and going on to adulthood.
The facility includes indoor stabling for 24 equines, indoor arena, outdoor arena, sensory riding trail, cross country training area and training classroom.
One of-a-kind youth-focused training centre, with state of the art equestrian centre.
Dublin City Council and the Department of Agriculture collaborated through the provision of capital funding to develop the centre which opened in January 2003. The centre was built on a twelve acre site at a cost of €5.7m. The purpose built facility currently includes 24 stables, indoor and outdoor arena, sensory riding trail, cross country training area, tutorial rooms, meeting rooms, a fully equipped computer suite and a canteen. The centre provides a range of education training and youth supports to the local community with a particular focus on targeting early school leavers or those at risk of early school leaving (aged 15-25). This is achieved very effectively and efficiently through the integrated service model approach in operation at the centre which essentially involves a number of different services provided to the community in a seamless wrap-around way under the one roof. The centre’s mission is to retain young people in mainstream education and provide an education and training link that enables them to progress into worthwhile further education, training and employment.
History
The idea for Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre came from residents of the local community who wanted to give their children more than they had growing up.
Over a period of years, the local community set about fund raising and lobbying Dublin City Council and Government to provide a facility for the youth of Cherry Orchard which would address the endemic low education attainment levels and also recognise the high level of interest in horses.
After much hard work, Dublin City Council, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, made funding available to build Cherry Orchard Equine Centre. Construction started on the Centre in 1999 and took two years to complete. The struggle did not end here however as when the Centre was built, there was a challenge to secure funding to operate the Centre.
Over the space of a few years, the Centre had identified the programmes and services it wanted to deliver from the Centre and had secured funding to deliver them. By 2003, the centre was almost fully operational delivering a range of programmes and services to the young people of Cherry Orchard.
The Centre has been fortunate to have had such strong support from the local community and has employed a lot of hard working and dedicated staff from the surrounding area.
Even though the Centre operates a number of services and programmes funded by various schemes, all services are delivered to the young person in an integrated and wrap around way. Students who access the Community Training Centre may also be engaged in the Youth Service and or the Equestrian Centre. All staff work very closely to ensure that every young person has the best opportunity possible to achieve their best outcomes in life.
Staff
Cherry Orchard Equine, Education and Training Centre, incorporating the CTC and Equine Centre, employs more than 40 staff across a range of disciplines and departments.
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Mellotte
Operations Manager
Michelle Leonard
Assistant Operations Manager
Amanda Maher
Head of Accounts
Ciaran Keogh
Training Centre Manager
Jonathan Hussey
Integrated Youth Services Manager
Amanda McCoy
Stable & Yard Manager
Michelle Leonard
Assistant Stable & Yard Manager
Edel Maher
| Training Centre | Youth Services | Operations | Accounts/ Reception | Stable & Yard |
| Audrey Miley | Anthony Duffy | Alan Byrne | Bernadette Sheehan | Abby Parkinson |
| Ciara Murphy | Dillion Withero | Colin Mc Dermott | Chloe Hall | Elise Kuhl |
| Cora Walker | Judith Kerins | Caroline O’Reilly | Sarah Walsh | Fiona Cloke |
| Caroline Mc Cabe | Kim O Connell | Declan Fox | James Shanahan | |
| Emer Drumm | Lauren Derwin Doody | Ellen Tully | Kirsty Mc Kenna Keogh | |
| Jenny White | Niamh Rafferty | Greg Mc Dermott | Nicholas Kirwan | |
| Marina Cirillo | Paul O’ Shaughnessy | Kay Kearney | ||
| Rachael Thompson | Paul Mulligan | |||
| Rory Mc Evitt | Pat O Connor | |||
| Shauna Robinson |