ONE of the biggest ever legacies to be left to the Ada Cole Memorial Stables at Broadley Common, Nazeing, will allow work to go ahead on at least one major project.

Edna Barclay, a long-time supporter of the rescue stables, left £100,000 to the charity, having been a regular contributor over the years.

Administrator Martin Burton said: "She was one of our long distance ladies who send a tenner a year to sponsor an animal."

But he had no idea that the cause would benefit from her will.

"It came as a very pleasant surprise in the post," Mr Burton said.

The amount is the second largest bequest to be received by the charity in the seven years that Mr Burton has been with the organisation.

He said: "We rely quite heavily on legacy income and this is a very sizeable one. It's extremely welcome news and allows us to carry out one or two capital projects that we have in the planning stage."

One of the projects is to improve facilities available to keep animals in the winter.

Mr Burton added: "We don't get any public money at all, we don't get any local authority money and we rely on donations of one form or another and of course although people are very good in fundraising, we have to raise rather a lot of money in the year.

"Our running costs are somewhere around £350,000 a year, of which a good proportion actually has to be raised."

Mrs Barclay, 97, who lived in Sudbury, Suffolk, left £2,371,546 gross in her will. She died in January, ten months after her second husband's death.

A total of £1m went to the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, with other beneficiaries reported to be Help the Aged, Battersea Dogs Home, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Salvation Army Hostels and a donkey sanctuary in Devon.

A total of £67,000 was divided between friends and relatives.

The stables are open daily for anyone wanting to find out more about its work.

For more details, ring the stables on 01992 892133.

A book celebrating the life of horse-lover Ada Cole has been launched in aid of the rescue stables set up in her honour in Nazeing.

She Heard Their Cry tells the story of Ada Cole's work with horses and gives an insight into other fascinating aspects of her life, including her work as a nurse during the Second World War.

Copies are available from the stables.

October 24, 2001 8:27