An outdoor activity centre for the disabled has been forced to lay off most of its staff because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

WindReach, which has eight full-time employees, said it would operate with 2½ full-time equivalents from May 1 until it could restart operations.

Stewart Richie, chairman of the charity’s board, explained: “With a significant number of donors supporting the Third Sector Coordinated Crisis Response and our fee for service revenue impacted by the closure of our premises to participants, the board was left with little choice but to furlough employees.

“We have an exceptional and dedicated team at WindReach who provide vitally important services to our participants, but for many our therapeutic and recreational services are not considered to be essential.

“I want to personally thank each and every member of the WindReach team for their exceptional service and continued dedication, despite the current uncertainty.”

Mr Richie said Warwick-based WindReach, which offers therapeutic equestrian and sports programmes for people with special needs, may have restricted operations for some time.

He added: “As a result, the board decided that is was imperative that WindReach prepare for the future, when services can resume.

“This is a hugely uncertain time for a number of people, including those who benefit from the many services WindReach has to offer.

“We want to reassure all of our stakeholders that the steps we are taking today will ensure that we can continue to provide the top-quality therapeutic programming that we have done for the last 20 years in the future.

He promised: “WindReach will return.”

Mr Richie said the charity had ensured the safety and health of its animals while the centre was closed and appealed to anyone who could help fund the charity to come forward.

He said: “Supporting WindReach today allows us all to support the most vulnerable when they need us most, post-crisis.

“All funds received will be vested to restarting programming as soon as reasonably possible.”

• Online donations can be made to WindReach’s HSBC account 010-857621-001. For more information please e-mail windreach@windreach.bm.