Funding boost as riders return to the Wee County

Jamie MacDonald • Published 13 May 2010 13:24 0 Comments

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Fundraiser Gary Fraser presents the cheque to the chair of Forth Valley RDA Liz Patton, joined by pony Flossie and RDA supporters.

FORTH Valley Riding for the Disabled celebrated its return to the area by receiving a cheque for £2750 last Wednesday.

After a spell out of the county the group officially came home to Clackmannanshire last month and the funding will help re-establish their service by allowing the RDA to buy equipment.

The money was raised by local man Gary Fraser through a series of runs, walks and hill climbs.

Joyce Reekie, from Forth Valley RDA, said they were very grateful to Gary for his kind gesture and the money would be spent on tack - bridles and reins - and play equipment for the children.

She added, "We are delighted to receive the money as we need to buy so much stuff.

"Anything we have left over will go towards either buying a pony or a roof.

"We wouldn't be starting up again without the help of Tom Carruthers - whose yard in Fishcross the RDA has been using.

"He is letting us use the arena and his ponies."

Through volunteers the RDA enables people with disabilities to ride horses to benefit their health and wellbeing.

The organisation had to move from their previous premises at Devon Equestrian Centre last year. The former RDA home had a roof and they are hoping to find a way of generating enough money to pay to install some protection from the elements at their new base.

"We do need to raise a lot of money for that," said Joyce.

"At the moment we can only go out in nice weather, if it is bad weather everything has to stop.

"We will have to look to see if it is possible to access grants and if someone knows how to go about applying we would like to hear from them."

The RDA would also like to hear from anyone interested in volunteering to help the children whilst they are riding the horses.

Joyce said, "We are running two classes a week just now but we really need more volunteers to put on additional classes. For every child, we need three volunteers plus the instructor.

"We could go every day as we have that many kids needing our help. We take kids from eight-months-old to the age of leaving school and it is amazing the difference you see in them. At first they are terrified of being on a horse but it changes and they love coming here."

Anyone interested in volunteering or able to provide the RDA with details on applying for grants should contact Joyce on 01259 217067 or RDA Forth Valley chair Liz Patton on 01259 750530.

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