Happy Christmas from Team Unicorn!

 

Wow, we’ve just had the most amazing Pony Rides to Santa and Christmas Fair event! The Centre was heaving with people who came to hear the lovely choir of children from Rosewood Academy, ride our beautifully turned out ponies led by Elves to see Santa and buy from all our Christmas Gift stalls.  We raised over £2600 for Centre funds and we’re so grateful to everyone who supported us.  

 

Still looking for present ideas?  We offer Adopt-a-Pony packages for £3 a month, which make great presents for family and friends and helps to pay towards the upkeep of our ponies.  It costs upwards of £1500 per pony per year to pay for feed, bedding, equipment and medical bills, so contributions like this are so helpful.

 

Or you could do your on-line shopping through AmazonSmile.  It won’t cost you a penny, but if you shop through them and nominate Unicorn Centre as your charity, we’ll receive a donation.

 

Our Supported Volunteers have recently held an Open Day for family and friends to show them what they do here. They gave a horse riding and leading demonstration, showed off their skills around the Centre and hosted a delicious buffet lunch and a Christmas jumper competition.  If you know someone who would benefit from our structured, Supported Volunteer programme for people with additional needs, please get in touch.

 

We have two new additions to Team Unicorn – a real case of Little and Large!  Little comes in the form of miniature Shetland Therapy pony Acer standing at 39 inches tall!  His job is to help promote the Centre, meet and greet guests, be our Pat and Groom pony for our Tea with a Pony guests and our Rainbows, Brownies and Squirrels. He’s going to love his work! Large is heavyweight cob Eddie who’ll be providing lessons for our adult riders.  He’s a real gentle giant, and will join Thunder and Caesar in the Big Boy Brigade.

 

We have a fantastic team of staff and volunteers who all work hard to ensure that our riders have a safe, challenging and fun time in their riding sessions.  Whether this is just riding in a straight line down one side of the arena with assistance, or competing at national level, our aim to help them achieve their goals is the same.  

 

Without our team of volunteers we couldn’t do this. Volunteers turn up at the Centre and leave with a smile on their faces knowing they’ve helped at least one rider.  Some lead ponies, others walk alongside the rider, assisting as required. Some have trained as coaches too.  Not all our volunteers have experience with horses or working with disabled people, and that doesn’t matter.  A desire to help is what’s important and we provide training and support to give each volunteer the skills and confidence they need.  

 

Could you spare us an hour or two each week?  If so, give our Volunteer Co-ordinator Denise a call on 01642 576222. Did you know we offer a discounted riding lesson to all our volunteers on Saturday mornings as a thank you?

 

Thank you for all your help and support this year and Happy Christmas from us all.

Jackie Rubin, 01642 576222.