Elisabeth Svendsen Trust

Amateur cooks are invited to submit their culinary creations to a Cake Baking Competition being held in Sutton Park on Saturday 28th April.

With the popularity of baking on the rise, this fundraising event offers the perfect opportunity to display traditional and new creative skills while raising funds for children with additional needs. The event is being organised by The Donkey Sanctuary who provide riding therapy with donkeys to around 180 children from across Birmingham each week.

The Cake Baking Competition has five categories:

• Cupcakes and muffins
• Sponge Cake

Families are invited to take part in a spectacular Easter Egg Hunt being held by international animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary on Sunday 1st April at 11am to help raise funds for its Birmingham donkey assisted therapy centre.

The centre in Sutton Park provides donkey assisted therapy for children with additional needs from across Birmingham and its Parents and Friends Association is organising the fun Easter event to raise funds so that it can continue its free service.

EST Birmingham is holding its Christmas Fair on Saturday 11th December from 10.30am to 3.00pm.

Staff at the centre have been busy preparing a magnificent Santa’s Grotto which this year has an extra-special ‘Four Seasons’ theme and for just £3, children will be able to go through a winter wonderland to visit Father Christmas and receive a gift.

Admission to the Christmas Fair is free and visitors will be able to enjoy festive refreshments, Christmas carols from Sutton Coldfield Community Choir, a variety of games plus stalls selling seasonal gifts.

Meet our Regional Fundraising Assistant at EST Birmingham. Tracy Hawkins got involved with our centre in Birmingham 12 years ago when her own daughter had a bone marrow and liver transplant.

Tracy told us "My daughter Rebecca had riding therapy for two years which she enjoyed very much. I've been at the centre for nearly 4 years working as a fundraiser and enjoying it very much."

Pascoe retired eight years ago from his work as a riding therapy donkey for a charity in Birmingham, but he still wants to join in with the lessons!

Pascoe started work as a riding therapy donkey in 1989 when the Birmingham centre of The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys (EST) first began to provide therapy for local children with special needs.

EST Birmingham tells how three-year old Jonah, who has Down’s syndrome, benefits physically and emotionally from donkey-riding therapy.

Seven months ago Jonah’s mum Jacqueline Nixon was given a list of activities for children with disabilities, one of them on offer being free donkey-riding therapy at the Birmingham Centre of the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys (EST) located within Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield.