THREE pony-mad girls from Yelverton are appealing for plenty of customers and lots of donated bargains at a jumble sale they are holding in aid of a new local charity.

Scarlett Moon, Sinead Kenna and Codie Wyatt all spend as much time as they can at the The Polo Pony Sanctuary in Yelverton, helping out owner Jeanne Windle-Taylor.

Scarlett, a 14-year-old student at Tavistock College, said: ?We started helping out at the sanctuary and the lady was telling us about how the ponies have been mistreated, how much money it costs to keep them and how they need more space to stable them.?

Scarlett said she and her friends came up with the idea of a jumble sale to try and raise funds to help with the running costs at the sanctuary.

?They get a donation with the horses that come in but they?ve had a lot of the horses a long time and that money eventually runs out,? said Scarlett.

?They?re lovely horses, some of them haven?t been treated very well and a lot of them just want lots of love and attention ? they?re really affectionate.?

The jumble sale will be held at St Paul?s Church Hall in Yelverton. Scarlett, Sinead, who is 12 and Codie, 13, would like to hear from anyone with clothes, toys, books or bric-a-brac to donate to a good cause.

?We?re also going to do a cake stall, if anyone would like to donate a cake,? said Scarlett.

Mrs Wendle-Taylor said the help and support offered by the girls was ?absolutely fantastic?.

?We are over the moon at what they are trying to do for us. It?s very hard to get money out of the world of polo and we?ve spent a lot of our own personal finances on these horses and getting this charity going.

?The fact that the girls, in such a short space of time, have come up with this ? I can?t tell you what their support has done for me ? it?s really given me a boost.?

Mrs Windle-Taylor currently has 15 retired polo ponies under the care of the charity and looking after them is a full time job.

She also paid tribute to Toni (13) and Robyn (11) Lunt who organised a sponsored silence at their school to raise money for the sanctuary.

?They?ve only been here twice and after the first visit they organised this for us.?

The girls? great effort raised about £200.

Mrs Windle-Taylor said: ?At the moment it?s costing £100-plus a week just to feed the horses, but it?s not just the money, the fact that people are behind what we are doing makes an enormous difference.?

The jumble sale in aid of the Polo Pony Sanctuary in Yelverton starts at 11.30am on Saturday February 21. Anyone who can donate jumble or cakes should call Scarlett Moon on 01822 852499.