I am a volunteer at West Cumbria Group Riding for the Disabled Association (WCRDA) – a member group of the national charity Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA).

The group was established to provide therapeutic pony riding to Primary School children with learning difficulties / disabilities from across our area, with services based at Watch Hill in Aspatria, and at Hensingham near Whitehaven.

Our weekly sessions, heavily dependent on Volunteers, provide opportunities for each child to improve communication and build confidence, self-esteem, balance and co-ordination, all whilst having fun!

However, our Watch Hill site has recently closed, leaving only Whitehaven to continue this great work.

In order to continue to provide the best possible service on a regular basis for the foreseeable future, we need to be sure we maintain our high standards of care for the children, ponies and volunteers.

We are additionally required to meet with all our legal obligations around Health and Safety and Safeguarding.

At this time, we need to train and equip Two additional First Aiders from the Volunteer team, at a cost approximately £100 each. As with all Charities at present, our funds are limited. Taking this money from our reserves leaves less in the kitty for replacement of, or additions to, the essentials that keep the service going - everything from high-specification riding hats for the children, replacement tack for the ponies and stationery and printing ink for the reams of record-keeping required.

The children that come to ride with us face Challenges - not of their own making - every single day. I am constantly amazed at how they push through with the new, exciting but very scary challenge of getting up on a pony, trusting their helpers and learning to enjoy the freedom of the riding experience.

As such, I have decided to choose and take on a Challenge of my own, and in doing so, hope to raise as much as possible to cover the costs of the First Aid training.

On Saturday 30th September, at the grand old age of 68, I will be taking part in the inaugural Lake District 13 Valleys Ultra Running event. I am training hard to complete the Half-Marathon distance of the 2-Valleys section around Lonscale, Latrigg and Blease Fells.

If a child can take a full 20 minutes to conquer their fear of sitting atop a pony, and literally 2 minutes later hold up 2 thumbs with a beaming smile on their face and announce “riding is a piece of cake,” then I can surely conquer a few hours up, down and around Keswick – and hope to treat myself to a Literal “Piece of Cake” at the finish line!