Long-time RDA worker hits the road
After 25 years with Hutt Valley Riding for the Disabled, including the last 13 as president, Shona Belcher is moving on.
She is shifting to the Manawatu with her family and leaving her ‘‘second home’’ at the Silverstream horse centre.
‘‘I was on the committee for several years before being president. You find yourself coming in every day, at least for a few hours. It’s my second home and I take so much pride in what we have achieved,’’ she said.
In 1992 when Belcher became involved with the Hutt Valley RDA it was based at Trentham racecourse, near the stables area.
A few years, and much fundraising later, the organisation was able to buy the 10-acre block at the city’s southern entrance.
The RDA’s’ original tin shed, which came from Trentham, was replaced several years later with an indoor arena that was extended, over two stages, into today’s impressive-looking headquarters.
‘‘That was all done by fundraising, we have had tremendous community support.
‘‘And it’s because of that and the great committees we’ve had through that we have been able to get to where we are today,’’ Belcher said.
The Hutt Valley RDA today is a big operation.
Even though it is powered by volunteers the annual operating costs are around $60,000.
‘‘And money is getting scarce. We’re always working hard on those grants.’’
Belcher’s discovery of what was to become an important part of her life was reasonably accidental.
‘‘We had shifted from the Hawke’s Bay and my oldest daughter, Loretta, was horse-mad. She went into a new class at school and met a girl who was also into horses and whose mother was the chief instructor here [at the RDA].
‘‘So we came along and straight away I fell in love with the place and what it does,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s all about the the special needs children and the combination of the horses and helping them.
‘‘It’s such a wonderful thing to be involved in.’’
Belcher, who was also a volunteer instructor for many years, loves watching the children develop and benefit from what the RDA offers.
‘‘We’ve even had Special Olympians who started here.’’