Charity appeals for donations
a West Lothian charity that provides therapeutic horse riding lessons for around 60 adults and young people with physical or learning difficulties are fundraising after three of their horses died. The West Lothian branch of the Riding for the Disabled Association sadly lost the three horses earlier this year to illness. This has meant the service has been hampered and they have not been able to cater for the same number of people as normal. With their fundraising efforts they hope to raise £8000 to cover vet bills, loss of income and also to buy at least another two new horses to get themselves fully functioning again. Don Whyte, one of the trustees at RDA, said: “Normally we would keep ourselves ticking over with a fun day every couple of years and that covered all of our costs but with the horses dying we have to try something new and are looking at different avenues to do this. We are going to create a sub committee whose job it will be to look at routes for us to bring in the money we need to get things up and running again. The horses who died were two of our bigger ones and this has meant that a lot of our older riders have not been able to get out much this season. And we can’t just go out and get any old horse, it must be a specialist type with the right temperament. For instance we can’t have a boisterous horse around autistic children. “Our biggest problem in all of this is just letting folk know we are actually a children’s charity and not an animal one. Folk just seem to think we are a horse charity so we are hoping to drum up a bit of publicity over the next wee while and get the word out there.” They have already began their push to raise money and on Saturday, September 7, a small team of the parents completed an eight-mile sponsored walk between Linlithgow and the Kelpies in Falkirk. Their season runs from May to October because they only have an outdoor arena so during the winter months they will continue fundraising. They will also celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary at the fun day on Sunday (September 22) at White quarries near Winchburgh. The doors open at 12.30pm and entry is free and there will be raffles, tombolas, face painting, kids games, stalls and the chance to meet the horses. The fun day will be held with the main intention of raising funds but it will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of Riding for the Disabled. The group was formed in 1969 and since then has helped over 25,000 disabled children and adults throughout Britain. Today there are 500 RDA centres all across the UK and an amazing 18,000 volunteers give up their time to help make the service operate. Through their network of member groups, RDA is at work in every corner of the UK, in cities and remote rural areas.
RDA provide general therapeutic riding classes which benefit both adults and children with various disabilities. Donations to the group can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/ wlrda2019?fbclid=IwAR27sTvUZEK27cv5 Gnn-CXvWfFkosXboIsGJbPHVrEAaYfOwNmBxJX0o7Y
"We are hoping to drum up publicity and get the word out there"