Godolphin is not just the name of the very successful horse-racing team owned by the Dubai Royal family. It also happens to be the name of a tiny village in Cornwall, England.

What does one have to do with the other you might ask? It turns out their relationship spans hundreds of years.

Goldolphin Cross in Cornwall reached out to HH Sheikh Mohammed in 2016

When the village’s Methodist’s chapel was to be sold by the Church the villagers decided to intervene and save the chapel, but they struggled to raise the necessary funds.

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Opened in 1934 the church served as a Methodist Chapel for 83 years until it was closed in 2016 due to low congregation numbers. It then became the towns community hub and heart of the village.

Used by all in the people in the village for activities such as youth clubs, coffee mornings, workshops and other community events it has become an important part of their town.

It became a centre of social activity for the village and it’s future was uncertain until HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai stepped in to help.

It can all be traced back to a singular horse

In 1724, nearly 300 years ago, the second Earl of Godolphin bred the legendary Goldolphin Arabian horse which would go on to become the founder of one of the three most important breeding lines in top class racing.

More importantly, for the people of Godolphin Cross, it went on to be the horse from which all HH Sheikh Mohammed’s horses are descended.

Noting this link in history between the small Cornish village and the Vice President of the UAE, the community reached out to HH Sheikh Mohammed for any help he could give them in their time of need.

They needed to raise £100,000 to make an offer on the chapel

The community managed to raise an impressive £20,000 but were struggling to make up the £80,000 difference. 

They made pleas to past residents and held various fundraising events when they made the decision to contact HH Sheikh Mohammed.

HH Sheikh Mohammed, in a very generous move, has stepped in and agreed to donate the rest of the costs needed by the community to make an offer on their beloved community centre.

Head of the community association,Mr McKie, said “This is amazing for us and it meant we were able to make an offer. It’s been verbally accepted and we are just waiting for the solicitors now to do their work. This will allow us to turn the chapel into a proper community hub.

“We can’t thank Sheikh Mohammed enough and we’d love to see him in this neck of the woods any time. He would be assured of a very warm welcome.”