tonight’s BBC TV News at 6pm will (fingers crossed) include a story about the impact of COVID and lockdown on RDA and our participants. We are grateful to Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, for agreeing to be interviewed for the story, and to members of Chalkdown RDA for helping to make this happen.
The BBC filmed Michael riding and interviewed his mum to highlight the benefits of our activities for the small number of riders who are able to continue at the moment, and to raise awareness of the many more who can’t. They interviewed The Princess Royal this morning, who was well-briefed on the situation at groups, the impact on riders and volunteers, the ways RDA has adapted to the crisis and the challenges of restarting.
Thank you to everyone involved for making it possible to raise awareness of our work in this way, during very difficult circumstances. I hope you enjoy watching it tonight – and fingers crossed a bigger story doesn’t come along to bump us off the schedule!
Cancellation of National Championships
After further deliberation between the organisers and the RDA UK Board of Trustees, and consultation with the wider RDA community, we have sadly decided not to run a face-to-face National Championships this year. There is a letter on MyRDA from Championships Lead, Anne Coney and Chief Executive Ed Bracher, which goes into more detail, and if your group usually competes I would urge you to download and share this with your volunteers and participants. You can find it here: myrda.org.uk/runningyourgroup/national-championships/#
Virtual Championships
In better news, we will definitely be holding a ‘Virtual Championships’, which may even allow more riders and drivers to take part. Details of this will be circulated as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about the Championships, please contact Fiona Harris fharris@rda.org.uk
End of E-Learning extensions to Safeguarding Certificates.
We have had an exemption in place allowing those who needed face-to-face safeguarding training to update via the e-learning course for a second time. This exemption was valid for a year and comes to an end on 31 March.
From 1 April, all those needing face-to-face training will need to attend a course either in person when allowed, or via live online courses using platforms such as Zoom. RDA is able to run online courses free of charge for up to 20 participants. Other equestrian organisations such as BHS and Pony Club offer the same training.
Any questions or concerns email Laura Cartwright lcartwright@rda.org.uk
30-minute webinars
This week: Zoom, the basics: 7pm tonight
The 30-minute webinar tonight at 7pm is about Organising and Managing Zoom meetings – with a focus on the real basics for those that have not done this before: how to set up a free Zoom account and set up and run a meeting, with a particular focus on ways to engage volunteers. It will be hosted by Anna Hall, Director of Operations and Faye McKenning, Projects Coordinator, Volunteer Development.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_al7Q-QuETe6GZBmQUBiCBQ
If you have any questions you would like answered please email them ahead of time to fmckenning@rda.org.uk
Next week: 11 Feb, Tea with a Pony project
Find out more from Cotswold RDA’s Claire Jenkins about this popular project, the impact it is making on those who take part, and the benefits to the group. More details next week. Registration at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HxQN0jUFRsWqpw1cy5PkXQ
YouTube Channel
If you were unable to attend Doug’s webinar on training horses during lockdown, a recording of the session can be found on our new MyRDA YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/nVhad9UITrI
The channel is a bit empty at the moment, but I will be populating it with training videos and webinars so we can offer a dedicated channel for volunteer learning and development. The main RDAnational YouTube Channel will remain as a public ‘shopfront’ for RDA.
Free vaccination scheme for RDA horses
For a number of years, pharmaceutical companies have supplied free vaccines for RDA equines ‘who contribute a significant amount of their time doing RDA activities’. Claiming the free vaccine is easy: just print off the form from MyRDA, ask the vet to fill it in when the equine has their jabs and then send a copy to the pharmaceutical company. For more information, please visit myrda.org.uk/runningyourgroup/horses-and-rda/vaccinations/#
Endurance News
Certificates for everyone who completed the Endurance League will be posted within the next week.
RDA members are eligible for Endurance GB Club Membership or can join as Supporters (which is FREE) and as part of that can register as Para Endurance Riders (even those who are traditionally unclassifiable).
Visit https://egb.myclubhouse.co.uk/Cms/Spaces/JOINING/Club+Membership for details.
SEIB Livery Yard & Riding School of the Year Awards
Entries for this year’s awards close on 16 March and there is a category for RDA Centres. More info here: www.seib.co.uk/awards/?fbclid=IwAR37J9BovVoulvY1DvaaiEXKv57bvAbuvKxCzmlFh4vE5qRDq8hI7myhSOU
