Nominees
Jo Tucker
The Charity
TheHorseCourse
TheHorseCourse Website
The Hotel
The Master Builder’s
The Master Builder’s Website
Nomination Extract
“Jo Tucker has worked for TheHorseCourse for more than three years and every day since she started has gone over and above the call of duty with commitment to her work, our participants, her colleagues, our 12-strong herd of horses and her own quest for never ending self-improvement. We are a charity using horses to work with some of society’s most disadvantaged and challenging people from the age of eight upwards. We work in a revolutionary way to improve mental health and change problem behaviours using horses. Jo is a highly trained facilitator who works on a one-to-one basis with our participants, who in some cases exhibit extremely challenging behaviour. Jo is unfailingly kind, patient and understanding with them all, and has a particular talent for the extremely anxious ones, achieving remarkable results and significant improvements in their confidence in only five days. Although this is the job she is paid to do Jo is passionate about improving the lives of our participants and never treats it as a ‘9 to 5’ job, indeed she is almost always the last to leave and the first to arrive. She is also the first to volunteer to mend the fences out in the field, even in the worst weather conditions and on top of her teaching always makes sure the welfare of the horses is her top priority, making sure they always have enough hay, warm enough rugs on and have any health concerns addressed promptly. On top of all this Jo has also willingly taken on the responsibility of writing all our policies, of which there are at least 17 and it is thanks to her hard work, attention to detail and extra-curricular research that has resulted in our getting a 96% score in our tendering process to the county council, as well as an Ambition Quality First Steps award. As if that wasn’t enough she is always willing to give her time to help new colleagues with advice and support, always with a smile and no hint that she might have 101 other things to do!”
They Said…
“I really enjoy just helping people learn how to feel calm or learn how to be more assertive so they can find their daily lives that much easier.
I’m really excited for my stay at the Master Builders. We chose their because I absolutely love the New Forest and they are letting me take my dog Sophie with us which is great because she’s a real part of TheHorseCourse Team and my partner as well who has helped out on numerous occasions. It’s a lovely treat for the three of us and we can’t wait to enjoy some walks!”
– Jo