Along with all of RDA’s groups around the UK, Gareloch closed its doors back in March – with no idea when it will reopen. One of the first groups to receive support from RDA’s Emergency Fund Appeal, in the June/July issue of Carriage Driving we find out what impact the closure is having on its participants and volunteers.
I miss it,” says parent and volunteer Gill White, whose son, Strachan, has been a participant at Gareloch since he was four years old. Now approaching his 13th birthday, Strachan is a carriage driver and his mum is part of the support team.
Ed Bracher, Chief Executive, RDA UK: "Last year we celebrated our 50th anniversary – the happiest of times. To go from that to where we are now is devastating: 480 groups closed; over 25,000 adults and children with disabilities unable to take part in the vital therapy and fun of being around our horses. The groups unable to operate or do their usual fundraising activities, leaving them vulnerable to financial hardship and the very real prospect of permanent closure.
Many of us are experiencing isolation for the first time – the prolonged sense of being alone and being forced to be separate from others. This is made all the harder for people who are quite often isolated in one way or another in their normal lives too – for whom activities like RDA are sometimes the only time in the week when it’s possible to get out, get active, and take part in something fun.
When I ask our participants or volunteers what they are missing most during lockdown it’s always the same thing: the horses (usually first on the list!), and the people. Like everyone, we’re making do with phone calls, zoom meetings and the rest, but we cannot wait to get back to the real world of real horses, real people – and really making a difference.
Please support our emergency fund appeal if you can, so we can direct funds to the groups in most need, so we can get back to supporting drivers like Strachan with the therapy and fun of horses."
Visit www.rda.org.uk/donate
Read the full article in our June/July issue of Carriage Driving