Green-fingered volunteers dig in to help disabled youngsters
Volunteer workers at a house building firm have been constructing a better future for disabled youngsters at a Wearside riding centre.
Eleven members of the technical department at Barratt Developments North East have been working at Washington Riding Centre to help with the creation of a new sensory trail.
Workers from the firm first visited the centre in August – helping clear weeds, prepare garden beds and planting flowers and shrubs – and the team have continued to provide crucial help to the facility.
Barratt’s green-fingered technical department visited the riding centre last week where they helped to plant fruit trees to create a new orchard to transform an empty field into a wheelchair accessible trail for riders and walkers alike.
The work is part of the firm’s ‘Donate a Day’ programme, where all employees pledge two fully paid days of volunteering to a local cause each year.
Employee Karen Velleman heard about Washington Riding Centre and its mission to provide a safe and equal environment for non-disabled and disabled people together and suggested the team volunteer their time to help build the trail.
The centre provides riding lessons to around 130 children and adults with a range
of disabilities and special educational needs each month, and the sensory trail will
serve to stimulate the senses and improve their experience with features that visitors can see, touch, smell and hear.
Paula Archer, chair of Washington Riding Centre said: “We’re very grateful to the volunteers at Barratt Developments for helping us with the progress of the sensory trail. It will have a big impact on the individuals we provide lessons to by enriching their experience and developing their senses.”
Stephen Wooldridge, technical director at Barratt Developments North East, added: “The Washington Riding Centre does a great deal of work to support local people with disabilities and special education needs. We are always looking for ways to help the communities in which we build and myself and the team were pleased tobeabletoaidthecentreagain in creating the sensory trail.”
For more information about the riding centre, go to www.washingtonridingcentre.co.uk