Cherry Orchard Entrance

The Cherry Orchard Equine Education and Training Centre (the COEETC) originated as a community led initiative in the late 1990’s to provide a facility and services to enable young people at risk to access quality education and training as an alternative to an unstructured life of boredom, anti-social behaviour and substance abuse. The need for and potential of an equine focused facility and complementary services were so compelling that the Cherry Orchard community received exceptional support from the Ballyfermot Partnership, Dublin City Council and and a number of government agencies, including FAS, CDYSB, URBAN Ballyfermot and the VEC.

The centre is a resource for the local community. The centre was built on 12 acres of land which includes 28 stables, an indoor and outdoor arena, an outdoor gallop, six tutorial rooms, chill out room, state of the art computer lab, and a canteen.

Executive Summary

The Cherry Orchard Equine, Educational and Training Centre (“the Centre”) delivers a number of services to 650 young persons per week from a purpose built facility on Blackditch Road, which currently includes twenty-eight stables, an indoor and outdoor arena, an outdoor gallops, tutorial rooms, a fully equipped computer room, and a canteen.

The Centre’s vision is of an ambitious and committed Cherry Orchard community where children are given every chance in life and in order to realise that vision has accepted a mission to create and sustain a unique, community led, equine centred, learning environment dedicated to the needs of young people through the provision of state recognized qualifications and recreational activities.

The Cherry Orchard community is in the early stages of a significant regeneration project, which will see a €450 Million investment in its infrastructure. In the context of this regeneration the founders and other supporters of the Centre have taken this opportunity to engage in a disciplined review and planning process to identify a strategy for the next stage of the organisation’s development. This document sets out that strategy.

The Centre has identified six strategic aims that must be achieved in order to realise its mission. They are:

1. To provide an education and training link that enables young people to progress into worthwhile further training / employment/education;
2. To retain greater numbers of young people to the end of second level;
3. To continually develop its Pony Club;
4. To integrate children aged six to ten into the Stay in Schools Programme and Community Riding Programme;
5. To increase the Community Horse Riding programme and the number of visiting groups utilising the facilities and,
6. To enhance the community participation programme in the Centre.