The Newent Initiative Trust is celebrating a grant of £2,000 from the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.

The grant will go towards the creation of a life size bronze sculpture of Newent’s Olympic dressage champion Valegro,comm to commemorate the horse’s unrivalled contribution to British Dressage.

The sculpture will be created by a local artist and cast in Gloucestershire, with the unveiling planned for autumn 2018 in the centre of Newent.

Public donations are invited to support the project, with a high profile crowdfunding campaign opening in December to raise much-needed funds. District councillors Julia Gooch and Jane Horne are playing an active role in the project.

Chairman of the Newent Initiative Trust committee Keith Urch said: “We are extremely excited about our project to celebrate Valegro and his achievements.

“We hope this unique sculpture will enhance Newent and make it a more popular visitor attraction.

“While we still have a large sum of funding to raise, thanks to the Honourable Company, we can now launch the project with confidence. We hope the public will see the benefits to the local area and really get behind this project.”

Carl Hester, co-owner of Valegro, said: “Charlotte Dujardin and I are hugely touched by this project, and happy to give it our full support.

“Valegro not only won several gold medals but danced his way into people’s hearts. This will be a truly fitting testament to his extraordinary talents for many years to come.”

Valegro, who is now retired at Hester’s stables in Newent, will make a rare appearance with Olympic rider Dujardin at the public project launch in Newent on Monday at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.