Dawn marks 40 years of helping
THE Wenlo Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) have announced that their head coach has been presented with a certificate from the Riding for the Disabled Association to mark an incredible 40 years of voluntary work for the charity.
Dawn Whitmore-Kirby’s CV already included a decade of RDA volunteering and coaching when Wenlo RDA was founded in 1990, and she has been the central pillar of all the group’s activities since then.
As well as being Wenlo’s coach, Dawn has also coached and assisted many other RDA groups across the region, including Ashmount and Ruddington RDA groups.
Dawn was awarded the Fellowship of the RDA in 2012 and in 2016 she received the President’s Award from HRH The Princess Royal, President of RDA. This is the most prestigious volunteer award within RDA and is given for service of an exceptional nature over a period of over 30 years.
Dawn was presented with a certificate marking her four decades of volunteering by RDA North Midlands Regional Chair Maria Holdaway in a ceremony which had to be delayed for a year due to COVID restrictions.
Presenting the award, Maria shared anecdotes about several of Dawn’s “encounters” with the organisation’s royal President, and paid tribute to Dawn’s tireless work and support not only with disabled riders but also their families, carers and RDA volunteers.
“She’s absolutely brilliant. She’s not just a coach and a mentor to the riders, but to everybody that comes onto the yard. She always, always, goes that extra mile,” she said.
Wenlo, in Loughborough, was one of the first groups in the North Midlands region to resume RDA activities following COVID lockdowns, welcoming its first riders back in July last year. Over twenty of our participants have recently taken part in RDA’s 2021 Regional competitions that were held remotely due to the pandemic, with 12 of our participants qualifying for the organisation’s National competitions in Dressage, Countryside Challenge and Arts & Crafts.
If you are interested in supporting Wenlo or in volunteering, please call 07860 245675 or email wenlo.rda@ hotmail.co.uk.