Charitable Objectives

The primary objects of the charity, as stated in its governing document, are:

• (i) to advance the education and training of persons especially the young to prepare them for trades and occupations in the equine industry and, in particular the breeding of horses, and thereby advance them in life;
• (ii) to advance education through the provision of public access to the educational facilities offered by NSL (or such other organisation providing similar education facilities) including but not limited to a Visitors Education Centre where the public can learn about horse husbandry and, in particular, the breeding of horses and to promote through education, humanity and morality among the public in the care and consideration of horses;
• (iii) to promote and encourage research into the breeding, use and management of thoroughbred and non-thoroughbred horses and facilitate the acquisition and distribution of such knowledge; and
• (iv) such other charitable objectives beneficial to the community consistent with and complimentary to the objects above as the Trustees shall in their absolute discretion determine.

Current & Recent Focus

The Trust has initially been endowed (as a consequence of the sale of the National Stud from the public to the private sector and through the medium of a very generous anonymous donation) with funds which are earmarked for use on the education and training activity at NSL. Annual revenue grants have therefore been approved by the Trustees to support the Education and Training programmes run by NSL, which would otherwise operate at a deficit and prospectively not at all. Programmes (in terms of their outputs, their fitness for purpose and their value for money) are monitored in part by a Training and Review Group which is representative of the Thoroughbred Breeding Industry, and which looks in particular at Industry need, relevance of courses, and placement of students at the completion of the courses. The Trustees are seeking financial funding in sustaining revenue support through the medium of bursaries for individual students.

Additionally, the Trustees have made available capital monies for new Lecture Theatre facilities at the National Stud (the Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre), secured principally through the application of the generous donation referred to earlier, and further supported by the generosity of the Niarchos Foundation. The next substantial development which the Trustees will support will be for the refurbishment/rebuilding of the student accommodation at the Stud, which is expected to commence in July 2010. A large individual donation has been received as a contribution towards the cost of the accommodation project, together with a further substantial contribution from the Childwick Trust. These contributions should enable completion of the accommodation block in January 2011.

Finally, the Trustees are seeking to raise further funds in support of their charitable objectives and in this regard are the beneficiaries of a substantial contribution from the Moller Trust, for which the Trustees are very grateful. The application of those funds will be discussed with the Moller Trustees later in 2010.