The Newbury group of Riding for the Disabled invited us to their stables at Wyld Court on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 October. This was a specific day when children from a number of Newbury schools attend for riding. Edwina Cooper, the Mayoress and I were met on arrival by the organiser, Jo Stevenson-Hamilton and she took us in to the large indoor barn which had been arranged with a riding ring which the horses are walked around with their riders. Most of the children there were from Castle school and had varying degrees of disablement. What we amazed at was the transformation on the faces of the children when they were assisted onto the horses by the helpers. Big smiles and laughter were apparent as they were walked around the ring. The children then took part in games whereby they had to place objects on posts which gave them a modicum of activity while riding. Each session lasted about an hour and the children were somewhat reluctant to dismount and be taken off to the buses outside.
We were given a tour of the stables before sitting down to a welcome cup of tea and cake in the ‘office’. We were told that Riding for the Disabled received no Government grants and had to raise the £30,000 annual budget to run the site and care and feed the horses. They do have a full-time employee who carries out the routine daily work in the stables but apart from her, all the other activities are carried out by volunteers who include Jo’s son who helps when not studying at school. The annual budget is raised by the volunteers themselves with jumble sales and other fundraising activities. They also have some generous donors.
We enjoyed our visit and I have to admit that if any organisation deserves support, the Riding for the Disabled is a prime candidate.
We were given a tour of the stables before sitting down to a welcome cup of tea and cake in the ‘office’. We were told that Riding for the Disabled received no Government grants and had to raise the £30,000 annual budget to run the site and care and feed the horses. They do have a full-time employee who carries out the routine daily work in the stables but apart from her, all the other activities are carried out by volunteers who include Jo’s son who helps when not studying at school. The annual budget is raised by the volunteers themselves with jumble sales and other fundraising activities. They also have some generous donors.
We enjoyed our visit and I have to admit that if any organisation deserves support, the Riding for the Disabled is a prime candidate.
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