Communities celebrate NZRDA Awareness Week across NZ

Communities celebrate NZRDA Awareness Week across New Zealand

This week sees the launch of the New Zealand Riding for the Disabled’s (NZRDA) Awareness Week across the country.

This years’ campaign focusses on how ‘RDA is life-changing for our Rider, Volunteers, Horses and Community’, highlighting the incredible teamwork between Rider, Volunteer and Horse and how this positively affects everyone involved.

Collectively, the 55 RDA Groups deliver a life-changing experience for over 3,200 Riders living with disabilities, through the delivery of 90,000 goal-based Therapeutic Riding Sessions in 2014. With 1,800 Volunteers devoting their time and time and energy to their local RDA Group and over 420 Horses playing a key role in the session delivery, this forms a dynamic and effective team.

The Riders come from all walks of life, from children and adults with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy or other debilitating diseases, to people with learning and social disabilities or physical injuries sustained from accidents.

NZRDA Chief Executive, Guy Ockenden, says that the Riding Sessions are designed to encourage the development of specific skills and abilities based on the Rider’s needs, with each Rider working to achieve their own individual goals.

“Thanks to RDA Riding Programmes, children and adults have learnt to walk or talk for the first time, have developed confidence and overcome fears, and developed core muscle strength allowing them to do things they never thought possible.”

Guy says that the 55 RDA Groups across New Zealand rely heavily on the work of both the Volunteers and Horses in order to achieve these outcomes.

“We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated Volunteers who work tirelessly to deliver these Riding Programmes, alongside specialist RDA Horses who are instrumental in the Programme delivery.

Together this team can achieve miracles, and their impact on the community is immeasurable.”

For RDA to continue providing these life-changing services to those in need, they rely on support from the community so they can in turn provide much-needed training, resources and support to the RDA Groups.

NZRDA Awareness Week runs from 27th April 2015. Find out more at www.rda.org.nz

Ends.

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