Lafarge Cement UK has made a donation of £4,000 which will start a fund that will be used for the future cleaning and painting of the Westbury White Horse.
The town’s iconic White Horse was recently made bright again, thanks to a community clean-up which was organised by the Rotary Club of Westbury. Lafarge UK estate manager Jonathan Toyn said, “Through our Westbury site, we have had a long association and partnership with the communities around the town. Whilst the works is now closed, we continue to operate an important depot from this site and are committed to continuing to support the local community where we can.
“Lafarge is pleased to be able to kick-start this White Horse fund with a donation of £4,000. Following the recent community effort to clean up the White Horse, it is looking back to its majestic self. We very much hope that our sponsorship will help to attract other sponsors and the White Horse can be maintained and kept clean on an on-going basis.”
The Rotary Club of Westbury, who successfully managed the recent Jubilee clean-up of the horse has agreed to administer the fund. Rotarian Steve Carrington, who co-ordinated the clean-up project said, “The Rotary Club has agreed to administer the fund on behalf of the community for an initial period of six years. The fund will be used in partnership with Westbury Town Council, English Heritage, Natural England and other stakeholders to maintain the White Horse over time. “The substantial and very generous contribution from Lafarge makes starting the fund truly credible. Dentons are co-ordinating donations from their customers and it is hoped that local businesses will support this fund with further donations.”
The planned launching of the fund, at Westbury White Horse on Saturday 7th July, was rather spoiled by the current bad weather, but a gathering of Rotarians, volunteers who cleaned and painted, two Lafarge representatives and Keith Harvey, Westbury town clerk, braved the conditions to mark the event. Sponsors wishing to contribute are asked to contact Steve Carrington at stevemc1402@aol. com for further details.
