THE amazing story of Teddington's Park Lane Stables and its founder Natalie O'Rourke MBE has been turned into a book, it was announced today.

Called 'Only Heroes and Horses', the book tells the story of Natalie's journey from lonely Birmingham girl to pride of the nation.

The mum-of-two was awarded an MBE last December, after a year of battling to keep the stables and RDA centre in its Teddington home - including raising over £1 million in donations from the public to buy the site.

The successful campaign was likened to a Hollywood film and the beloved stables are set to move back this Spring after renovation work takes place.

Natalie is the author of her new book which traces her journey from a lonely girl living in Birmingham to the proud manager of the Teddington Riding for the Disabled centre, and later inspirational community leader.

It reveals how she fell in love with horses and then "fought tooth and nail" through tragedy and hardship to achieve her dream of running a stables that could be there for everybody.

A post on the stables' website reads: ""This story would make a good book", you said. And here it is.

"Natalie's determination to save Park Lane Stables last year attracted an army of supporters, caught the attention of a nation, and led to spectacular success.

"Saving Park Lane Stables is the achievement of everyone who backed the campaign.

"But Natalie was the driving force behind it, and now you can read her story in a new book called Only Heroes and Horses: the heartwarming true story of Park Lane Stables.

"How did a little girl growing up in Birmingham discover the magic of horses and become a fervent campaigner for sharing it with young people and adults dealt extra challenges in life?"

Natalie's publisher Emily Barrett said: "Working with her on this book has been such an uplifting experience – I can't adequately describe to you what a gem of a person Natalie is, but readers of the book will get a very good idea!

"It's a testament to what humans can achieve through kindness, optimism and tenacity; the absolute best heartwarming summer read you can hope for."

Natalie, who lives in Hampton Hill, founded Park Lane Stables' RDA centre 14 years ago.

Despite challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and threat of eviction, the stables continued to spread joy and help children and adults with disabilities and additional needs.

Last year, the stables won the Sun's award for Best Health Charity at a star-studded ceremony.

Natalie's will be sharing her royalties from sales of the book with Park Lane Stables.

It will be published on May 26 in hardback, e-book and audiobook form, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon HERE