The Australian community has been dismayed by the unfortunate closure of the cherished equestrian school for the disabled in Brisbane. The center provided assisted therapy for the disabled and had earned the community’s respect for nearly 60 years. With the news of the closure, the community has expressed disbelief and wishes to bring back the organization.

The Help Enterprise, who looked after the equestrian school in its recent announcement, declared that the center was to be shut down from the 30th of July due to operational difficulty. The McIntyre Centre at Pinjarra Hills was gifted to the Help Enterprise in 2017 and to everyone’s surprise, couldn’t sustain long.

The Help Enterprise Takeover

The McIntyre Centre was first introduced by a couple, Peter and June McIntyre at their home. The initiative was started in 1964 with the intent of helping disabled people through a horse-riding program. Soon, it exceeded expectations and had to be moved to a 16-hectare site.

The organization had survived a glorious 53 years before being gifted to the Help Enterprise, a notable charity in 2017. With its overtaking, the charity supposedly spent $4 Million on the school’s infrastructure, and improvement. It also added that keeping the school open and running cost them around $700000 per month and the National Disability Insurance Scheme funding was only affecting their operation. “HELP has utilised multiple options to improve McIntyre’s financial position but has not been able to close the gap between NDIS fees for service and the costs of operating a safe, high quality and well-staffed operation,” said Mr Fresser, CEO of Help Enterprises in their Press Release.

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The ABC News Brisbane reported that when the Help Enterprise took over, the rides count per year stood at 7500. However, through the years, the number has reduced to 2,800. The staggering news has received heat from the local community. As the users of the school and family are left hanging, the angered community has been fighting for the revival.

Community’s fight to revive the Equestrian services

Following the unfortunate news, the local community has rallied to prevent the closure and take action to revive the organization. The community quickly formed a steering committee to plan the revival. They are currently preparing a proposal to present to Help Enterprises. However, the committee’s efforts have yielded minimal results, as the enterprise has refused to comment or respond. The situation has become even more challenging after the enterprise initiated the sale of horses.

“We want the McIntyre Centre back as a community asset,” Mr Williams, President of Lions Club, said. He further added that seeing it empty felt like “having the heart ripped out”. He believes that the organization was at the heart of not only the disabled community but also many other community groups, and he recognizes the need for a comeback. The process has been challenging, especially since the enterprise has repeatedly refused to share the terms of the Deed Of Gift upon every request.

However, in speculating about a potential breakthrough, Queensland University Law Professor Ross Grantham believes that if the conditions were charitable and allowed for amendments to the terms, there might not be a necessity to involve the court. On the other hand, a simple solution could be for Help Enterprises, as a charitable organization, to transfer ownership of the organization to another charity.

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While Help Enterprises refrains from external communication and comments, the community is determined to seek justice for the school. Its members are dedicated to restoring the organization to its original purpose, as envisioned by the McIntyre family: a source of assistance for individuals with disabilities.