A charity “clipathon” held at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre has raised more than £10k for mental health charity MIND.
Organiser Katy Barr and her team of 10 professional grooms smashed their target when they clipped 107 horses in 12 hours — making the fundraiser the largest event of its kind ever held.
Katy was inspired to undertake the challenge after hearing of the death of teenager and keen equestrian Bradley John, who took his own life after being bullied.
“I spoke to Bradley’s father Byron a few weeks beforehand to get his blessing because we wanted to honour him,” Katy explained.
“We didn’t just want to raise a lot of money and do what we can for MIND but we also wanted to get people talking, and let them know that it’s OK to not be OK and ask for help.
“Mental health issues are rife in the grooming and farming industries and it’s something we need to make people more aware of.”
Katy first came up with the idea for a clipathon a few years ago after losing a friend to pancreatic cancer and wanting to raise funds for Macmillan.
“I thought ‘I don’t like running and swimming and I don’t want to do what everyone else does. What can I do? I know, I’ll clip some horses!’” she explained. “I set a target to clip as many as I could in 12 hours and I managed 11 — I could have done a few more but I got kicked quite badly by number nine and my knee started to give way! We managed to raise £2,000.”
Katy said she had been thinking of attempting the feat again and asked some friends if they would be interested in helping.
“After that, the whole thing just snowballed into something bigger than I ever imagined,” she said.
She added that she was “ecstatic” to have raised so much money for MIND.
“I wanted to use my skills to run a charity event with a difference, for a cause that’s incredibly close to my heart,” she said.
“I’m lucky enough to know several other crazy grooms who are up for a challenge and who care about this cause as much as I do. I can’t thank them enough and together we absolutely smashed the target.”
Katy also ran a silent auction and raffle as part of the event, which took place on November 3, helping to boost the proceeds way beyond her original £2,000 goal.
Continues below…
The support for the #blowforbradley campaign has grown rapidly across the equestrian world and the general public, with hundreds pledging
Katy is aiming to raise £2,000 for the mental health charity MIND
#blowforbradley: Family campaigns to stamp out bullying after teen’s tragic death
Subscribe to Horse & Hound this spring for great savings
Groom aims to clip 100 horses in 12 hours #clipathon
“Some very generous businesses, along with an incredibly generous donation from a charitable foundation, meant that we beat our target by more than 500%,” she said. “If we can help just one person by doing this, we’ll be happy.”
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
