History
South Bucks RDA Group
Charity registered in the UK. Charity no. 1073721
History
Charity registered in the UK. Charity no. 1073721
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The RDA logo and 'RDA' are trademarks of Riding for the Disabled Association Incorporating Carriage Driving.
South Bucks is a Member Group of Riding for the Disabled Association Incorporating Carriage Driving.
For more information, see our contacts page.
Lis Hartel, a Danish rider, overcomes the many problems of contracting Poliomyelitis (polio) to win a silver medal in the Dressage Grand Prix at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.
British Olympic Dressage Team rider, Mrs V.D.S. Williams, presents a riding display to a group of disabled people in Bristol.
With the help of Miss Hearne, physiotherapist at Farnham Park Rehabilitation Centre, and fellow Olympic rider, Mrs Joanna Hall, Mrs Williams opens the Bucks and Berks Riding for the Disabled Centre at East Burnham Park on the 24th of May, offering riding for disabled on Mondays and Thursdays during school term time. The Group is one of the nine founder groups of the Advisory Council for Riding for the Disabled.
With no riders coming from Berkshire (and with Slough being in Buckinghamshire), the Group's name is changed, in October, to "South Bucks RDA Group".
80 RDA Groups come together to form one Association - the UK registered charity, Riding for the Disabled Association. After a long illness, the Group's founder, Mrs V.D.S. Williams dies, at the end of the year. Her husband, Col. Williams agrees to take over Chairmanship of the Group.
Colonel Williams continues to welcome the Group at his home, taking on the role of Treasurer, as well as Chairman. He hosts the second Horsemans' Sunday service at East Burnham Park. Two people join South Bucks RDA Group - Di Redfern and Shirley Woefell (in 1970, little do we know how key to the future of the Group Di and Shirley will become!).
Shirley Woefell becomes Group Secretary and Di Redfern takes the role of Thursday Instructor. With her background as a Pony Club Instructor, Di wins the approval of many riders who enjoy instruction, not just exercise.
The Group's second Chairman, Col. Williams, dies in the spring. Di Redfern is elected to become the Group's third Chairman, the Group invites Dorian Williams to be its first President, and, as East Burnham Park is sold, the Group is asked to move.
Mr & Mrs C. Redfern invite the Group to its present home, and the Group moves in October 1974.
The national Riding for the Disabled Association amends its constitution to include carriage driving.
The Group takes part in the "Blue Peter" 'Rag and Wool Appeal' to raise money for the National RDA. As a result of the appeal, "Blue Peter" buys a pony, Rags, for another Group and South Bucks RDA Group benefits with the donation of a field shelter and some numnahs.
South Bucks RDA Group starts Saturday morning classes - and all year riding.
The Group introduces a Wednesday afternoon class for Holyport School.
Dorian Williams, the Group's first President, dies. Local resident, Sir Robert Bellinger, is invited to become the Group's second President.
Intensive fund raising results in the Group building an all-weather outside riding arena and a barn, with indoor stabling. These are opened, on 9th October, by HRH Princess Anne.
An extension to the barn is built. This provides additional stabling and an indoor classroom. These indoor facilities mean we can offer our riders stable management lessons, when the weather becomes too wet and cold to ride. Carriage driving is added to the Group's activities. Now the Group is active six days a week (we get Sundays off!).
Anne Cutcliffe, one of the Group's initial instructors, is one of the first people in the UK to obtain the RDA Group Instructor's Certificate.
The Group receives the donation of a Land Rover Discovery from Mr C. Redfern and a matching trailer from the Saints and Sinners Club. These generous gifts are very useful as we have an increasing number of riders taking part in competitions and demonstrations.
A professional stable manager, Clive Milkins, is employed to manage and develop the yard and environs, school and maintain the well-being of our horses and ponies, guide the Group's volunteer instructors and helpers, and instruct Group riders. Over the years, Clive has become more and more involved with the RDA movement through international events. We are delighted that he's chosen to join us from his position at the Warwickshire College of Agriculture.
The national RDA celebrates its Silver Jubilee. The Group hosts a Hippotherapy Day for physiotherapists. The loss of a pony or horse is always keenly felt. This year we lost the much-loved Brando, through ill-health. Saturday riders have donated a trophy, in his memory, to be presented each year to a Saturday helper for special contribution to the Group.
Time for a party! The Group celebrates its 30th Anniversary. Our Open Day party is great fun, with riding and driving displays for everyone to enjoy. As well as being our VIP party guest (cutting the anniversary cake with some gusto), Sir Robert Bellinger, our President, sponsors and hosts a special Helpers' Supper. This is a great opportunity for all volunteer helpers to meet up and exchange plenty of pony tales. We escape damage from a fire sweeping over Stoke Common. All horses and ponies are evacuated safely. Sue Howkins, Group Treasurer, retires after 17 years. Tony Beard takes over the role of Treasurer.
The 1996 Atlanta Paralympics sees lots of South Bucks RDA Group involvement: Sue Holton competes successfully as a member of the British Dressage Team, Joyce Sherriff attends as Team Physiotherapist, and Anne Cutcliffe is Team Manager. The British Team wins Team Gold - plus plenty of individual medals. BP features our instructor, Emma Ford, and rider, Dean Lindsay, in a national press advertisement concerned with the work BP's employees do in the community. South Regional Chairman, Susan Wemyss, retires. Our own Group Chairman, Di Redfern, is invited to become next Regional Chairman. Our President, Sir Robert Bellinger, hosts a second Helpers' Supper - set to become an annual event? On a much less happy note, planning permission has been refused for our indoor riding arena - but the Group will appeal against the decision. The fund raising continues. A spate of burglaries further depresses the Group.
After 25 years as Group Organiser, Shirley Woefell retires from the Committee. Susan Phipps is invited to become new Group Organiser. Following last year's burglaries, all areas are now heavily alarmed. South Bucks RDA Group holds a sponsored Petplan Milestone Ride in June and raises over £750. Six riders from the Group (Neil Carter, David Kingston, Daniel Mannion, Abigail Rogers, Claire Samuel and Tiffany van den Bergh) compete - with great medal success - in the 1997 Special Olympics UK. Planning permission for the indoor riding school is granted in July. Unfortunately, due to the delay in obtaining planning permission, building costs have risen from the original estimate. Fund raising continues.
At last, the indoor school's finished. The school is officially opened on 18th October by our President, Sir Robert Bellinger. The facility means we can offer riders and drivers full all-weather riding in a dry and sheltered arena. Anne Cutcliffe resigns as South Regional Instructor and our Group Stable Manager, Clive Milkins, is invited to take up the appointment. The Group develops a 'mounting team' of specially trained helpers to assist with riders' mounting and dismounting. Two of our Special Olympic riders, Daniel Mannion and Tiffany van den Bergh, start Equine Studies college courses.
RDA becomes a Federation of Member Groups. Groups now register as separate charities, although they remain members of RDA and continue to receive national support and services. Our Group is now a registered charity, number 1073721. We have a Board of four Trustees: Di Redfern, Chairman; Adrian Sparks, Treasurer; Susan Phipps, Secretary; Theresa Drake, Instructor. Jennifer Reeves-Brown is the elected Riders' Representative. South Bucks Group rider, Neil Carter, wins a gold and silver medal, representing Great Britain, as a Grade A rider, in North Carolina at the 1999 Special Olympics World Games. He is joined in the US by our Stable Manager, Clive Milkins, who's the British Equestrian Coach. Clive passes his Senior Instructor's Examination - first male within RDA to achieve this qualification. At the Group's AGM in November, Heather Devany, a Saturday helper, is elected to the Board of Trustees of South Bucks RDA Group. The Board of Trustees now consists of five Trustees, plus the elected Riders' representative.
At the National RDA Annual General Meeting, it's decided that Groups will offer members three types of membership (junior - non-voting, non-voting adult and voting adult - the latter having been attending the Group regularly for at least two years and paying £1 to have their names put on the voting register). 50% of voting members are required to form a quorum at the Group's Annual General Meeting. From 1st of April this year, tax relief is available on all donations (no minimum level). South Bucks rider, Claire Samuel, represents Great Britain at the Special Olympics in the Netherlands. On the other side of the world, in Sydney, the British Paralympic Equestrian Team wins three gold medals - with Lee Pearson scooping Dressage Gold. Back at South Bucks, we continue to host a variety of events, including: County Instructor workshops, indoor dressage competitions, short training courses for physiotherapists, an international Group Instructors' Exam, the South Region Dressage Show, workshops for potential Senior Instructors and a Petplan Millennium Challenge event (raising over £2000).
The outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease is disastrous in the countryside. Many RDA Groups are closed and there are no regional competitions nor Fun Days. National Dressage and Musical Ride competitions are entered and judged via video. The Group employs Claire Bridges to work as a Groom and to assist our Stable Manager. One of the Group's horses, Legend, gives birth to a healthy filly foal, Frank's Fable, during her recuperation from a serious leg injury. Legend and Frank's Fable are featured on the Group's new Christmas cards and note-cards.
With the national overcoming of Foot and Mouth Disease, the Group returns to hosting local, regional and national events. This year these include Paralympic Squad training sessions, the South Regional Dressage and Handy Pony Show, an RDA national judges' training day, a physiotherapists' Functional Profile Classification course and a series of dressage competitions organised by South Bucks rider Jennifer Reeves-Brown. Five South Bucks RDA riders (Natasha Baker, Ben Rodin, Abigail Rogers, Claire Samuel and Natasha Wait) along with four Group horses and ponies, and ten instructors and helpers, join over 2000 other participants, and 1000 other horses, and take part in All the Queen's Horses - an equestrian extravaganza - at Windsor, to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Golden Jubilee. Sadly, Sir Robert Bellinger, President of South Bucks RDA Group from 1985 to 2002, dies in July. The Group's web site goes online on the 1st of November 2002.
South Bucks' Group continues to host a variety of training events. In 2003, these include training days for: physiotherapists and hippotherapists; Paralympic coaches and trainers; RDA dressage judges, and Paralympic talent spotters. 28 Group riders qualify for the 2003 RDA National Dressage Championships: 15 Dressage riders, three Working Pony & Rider (Handy Pony) riders, and two Musical Ride teams. All riders are placed, with eight coming first in their classes. The Drill Ride entry, "Not the Household Cavalry", ridden by Sarah Cawthorne, Clair Dawson, Sarah Pennington, Rebecca (Becky) Poulton, Conrad Tokarczyk and Rosanna (Rosie) Waite, wins the national competition for a non-thematic Musical Ride. On 4th of October, Clive Milkins, Group Stable Manager and Chief Instructor, receives a specially commissioned painting to commemorate his 10th anniversary with South Bucks RDA Group. At the Group's AGM, Group Treasurer and Trustee, Adrian Sparks, does not stand for re-election. Kym Bradshaw takes over as Treasurer and is elected to the Board of Trustees. Elected Riders' Representative, Jennifer Reeves-Brown, stands down.
The new arena mirrors, donated by British Airways, are unveiled. Six young Group riders are selected for inclusion in the British Equestrian Federation's World Class Start and Potential programme: Natasha Baker, Sophie Christiansen, Sophie Franks, Emma Kent, Toby Pawson and Rory Williams. South Bucks RDA Group features strongly at the RDA National Championships; with every rider entering from the Group, winning or being placed in their class. The Group's Musical Ride entry, "Lord of the Rings takes the Oscars" wins the Regional Shield, and comes fourth overall, nationally. Training events continue to be hosted at South Bucks; including physiotherapist training days and Paralympic Coaching days. For their 2004 Ernst & Young Charity Day, almost 100 personnel from Ernst & Young LLP in Reading tackle woodland, ditch and trough clearing; barn and pony shelter cleaning, repainting and wood-preserving; gravel spreading, fence building and lots of shelf erecting, at the Group's centre. South Bucks RDA Group celebrates 30 years at Mill House Farm on the 4th of September. The day features all 19 horses and ponies, the Rev. Canon Roger Royle, Group riders' demonstrations, a presentation to Di and Red Redfern, international dressage rider Nicola McGivern, and a send off to the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games for Group rider Sophie Christiansen. The day is enjoyed by over 270 friends, old and new. Group Stable Manager, Clive Milkins, accompanies Group horse, Aces Doonsquire Express (Charlie Girl), to Athens. Charlie Girl is on loan to the Brazilian Paralympic rider for the Dressage competition. Clive, and Charlie Girl, are right on the spot in Athens to help 16 year old Sophie Christiansen celebrate winning a Bronze medal on Nicola Tustain's horse Hot Stuff. Following her success in Athens, Sophie, and South Bucks RDA Group, are the centre of a press and publicity maelstrom, culminating in Sophie being voted BBC London Disabled Sportsperson of the Year 2004. The 30th Anniversary Sponsored Obstacle Ride raises over £1,700. Group rider Rory Williams is elected Riders' Representative.
A record number of Group riders worked hard over the past year to achieve Grade 1 and Grade 2 in Horse Care and Riding in Group exams. During the first two weeks in July, Group riders Claire Samuel and Kirsty Brown represent the UK Southern Region at the 2005 Special Olympics National Summer Games, competing in Dressage, Horse Care and Knowledge, as well as Equitation. Kirsty achieves a Gold in her Dressage section and Clare achieves a Gold in all three disciplines. Later in July, Group riders Natasha Baker, Sophie Christiansen, Anna Gill, Erin Orford, Toby Pawson, Ben Rodin, Alex Sutton and Rory Williams all compete in international Para Dressage competitions - with all either winning or being placed in the top three in Junior or Senior classes. At the end of July, Sophie Christiansen returns from the European Para Dressage Championships, held in Hungary, as European Champion and the only British triple Gold medallist. In August, the Group is delighted to welcome a team of 15 enthusiastic and hard working, cleaning, wood-preserving and painting volunteers from Timberland Europe Services Ltd. Group Stable Manager, Chief Instructor and Coach, Clive Milkins, reaches the finals for 'Groom of the Year 2005' - being nominated for his work with the Paralympic riders in the GB teams. At the Group's AGM, Wendy Harrison takes over as Treasurer and is elected to the Board of Trustees. HRH The Princess Royal presents Group Chairman, Di Redfern, with the Birt Spooner Trophy at the November 2005 National RDA AGM, in acknowledgement for the many years that Di has spent working voluntarily for National RDA. Di retires, at the AGM, as Deputy Chair of RDA National and as South Regional Chairman in December 2005.
In March, An Evening with Tim Stockdale (international show-jumper), held at BCA, creates publicity for the Group and raises £4,000. Group Stable Manager, Chief Instructor and Coach, Clive Milkins, is one of the eight nominees for The Queen's Award for Equestrianism, for "Outstanding Services to Equestrianism". Group members concentrate on raising funds to update facilities: replacing the indoor arena's skylights, rebuilding the 20 year old outdoor arena and converting a store room to a secure tack room. In June, the Group finds out that the nomination, by riders' families, for The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, was successful. Group volunteers, past and present, gather with riders, Group supporters, and their families, to receive the award from HM Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on behalf of HM The Queen in July. Group rider Ben Fisher wins the individual first award, and Coteford School takes first prize for group entries, in the Arts and Crafts competition at the RDA National Championships in Hartpury. Group Treasurer, Wendy Harrison, walks the 180 mile Thames Path to raise money for a new non-slip floor. 2006 sees an increase in courses and events hosted at the Group, including: training days for judges, Regional training days for instructors, international classifiers training courses, position workshops, a British Dressage and International Paralympic conference and a training week for members of the South African Junior Paralympic Squad.
The Group are, again, disappointed not to receive funding from Children in Need, despite a thorough and well-supported application. Rich Dewire, partner of Group rider Kate MacGregor, runs the London Marathon for the Group, in April, raising over £3,000 towards the construction of the secure tack storage room. The outdoor arena is officially opened on 24 April 2007. Group riders have a hugely successful competition season, with Alex Sutton, riding Forester, becoming under-14 International Champion, at the Junior International Championships, held at Millfield. At the National Championships, South Bucks RDA take home an impressive number of trophies! Saturday riders, Katy Adnitt, Abi Rogers, Claire Samuels and Natasha Wait win the National Drill Musical Ride ("videoed by a non professional"); Ben Fisher and Coteford School (Wednesday class) both win their respective Arts & Crafts classes; Sarah Austin on Bonnie and Sam Steel on Forester are first and second respectively in the combined training event; Alex Sutton, Anna Gill, Ben Rodin, Erin Orford and Kate MacGregor each win their dressage classes. At the World Championships, Sophie Christiansen, riding new horse, Gazel, wins individual freestyle gold and individual bronze. Physiotherapist, Dorinda Lafone, retires from volunteering after 40 years of specialising in therapeutic riding for the under 5s.
![[Picture: South Bucks RDA Group rider, Sophie Christiansen, wins double Gold and Silver at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.]](/Default.aspx?Guid=&MenuId=Public.History.htm&Action=Web.Public&ToolAction=image&Path=%2fImages&File=beijing_gold_100.jpg)
Richard Godleman, Saturday helper, receives the South Buckinghamshire Young People Chairman's Special Award for outstanding contribution. The Group are delighted to welcome children from Holtspur School Language Department to a new weekday riding session. Locally based dressage society, GODS Central (Getting Older Dressage Society), raise Group funds, and lots of laughs, with their Family Fun horse and pony presentation at South Bucks RDA Group, including Strictly Come Dancing on horseback! At the RDA Nationals there is again success for the South Bucks team: Ben Fisher wins the junior 'Design a Logo' competition; and Anna Gill riding Tribal Indian, Kate MacGregor on Tribal Indian, Maisie Ball with Charlie Girl, Rory Williams on Gazel, Sam Steel riding Xanadu, and Stephen Wagland on Forester all win their dressage classes. Sophie Christiansen inspires Sir Paul McCartney to work with Paralympic competitors (including Sophie and Lambrusco) and Team Saatchi to create an advertisement to highlight the work of ParalympicsGB. In September, Sophie, riding the Para Dressage Training Trust's Lambrusco III, wins Individual Gold and Silver and Team Gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Huge celebrations follow, to mark all the hard work and success of Sophie, Lambrusco III, her coach, Clive Milkins, and the rest of the British team. As well as her Paralympic success, Group Rider Sophie Christiansen is awarded the British Equestrian Writers Association (BEWA) Vivien Batchelor Trophy, and receives the Raymond Brooks-Ward Memorial Trophy, presented at the London International Horse Show, at Olympia, on 20th December.
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