rdasouthscotland | National Office Update

27 October 2021

National Office Update

Dear RDA UK volunteers and staff,

Thank you all for sending me your pictures of HRH Princess Anne, I am very grateful for the time and effort you all took to find and send them to me. We will be displaying them for The Princess during her visit to The National Training Centre on 5 November, as part of our social media celebration of her 50 years’ service to RDA (see below) and of course in the timeline on our website. Also, thank you for sending me your ‘thank you’ messages to the Princess. They have been lovely to read and we very much look forward to sharing them with her. My apologies for the confusion on the deadline last week.

HRH over 50 years: Social Media

In the run up to next week, we would like to encourage groups to share stories and posts about the Princess and her 50 years of support as our patron on their social media pages. RDA National will be dedicating a week of posts to HRH, reflecting on the last 50 years with some of the photos sent into me.

New private Facebook group for participants.

As part of our commitment to increase participant engagement and feedback, we have set up a private Facebook group just for participants, called ‘RDA All Stars’. Many thanks to the Regional Participant Reps who have been involved in this and who will be helping to monitor and admin the group. The group will enable those participants who are Facebook users to post comments and questions, share ideas and experiences, and provide useful feedback to RDA about our activities. Please share with your Facebook-using participants:https://www.facebook.com/groups/4432304536889065/

We know not all participants will be able to interact with this group. This is not about reaching everyone, it is just making sure that there is a platform for those participants who can and want to engage with RDA in this way. For other RDA Facebook users out there, including parents, carers and other family members, please remind them there is already a general Facebook group for anyone who is part of our community https://www.facebook.com/groups/148575718907344/

RDA Handbook

Have you received your handbook? RDA UK volunteers should have received one copy – or several if they are also a group contact. The delivery seems to have been a very drawn-out process and we want to check if they have now all been received. Please email me if you (or your group) have not received yours.

RDA 2021 Equality Survey

RDA has a commitment to equality diversity and inclusion, and therefore we undertake annual staff and board equality monitoring. It is also a fundamental part of meeting the Equality Standard for Sport, which is a requirement from the Sport England funding we receive from British Equestrian.

This year, we would like to include all RDAUK contacts and coaches for the very first time. It will help us to understand who is in our sport, the communities we serve and how we can do better to engage more people from various demographics. The only information we will ask from you is your RDA role so we can analyse the data.

A more in-depth explanation will be sent out along with guidance and the link to the survey when it launches. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

AGM

As you know the RDA UK AGM is next Friday(5th) and we still need Groups to vote. We would be very grateful of you could encourage those that have not done so to complete the voting forms, found at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RDAAGM5thNov21

Virtual National Championship Feedback

Following on from the successful Virtual National Championships, we are keen to hear your feedback. We have two surveys running, one for groups to complete and one for competitors.

Please click on the relevant link:

For competitors: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VirtualChampsRider

For groups: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VirtualChampsGroup

For all those that complete the survey your name will be entered into a prize draw to win a T-shirt, Hoodie or sweater kindly donated by Muddy Mare. Muddy Mare Clothing is an equestrian and outdoor clothing brand. The company was originally set up by Amy Pridige to help RDA Centres with their independent fundraising through its #horsemates collection which donates a percentage of your purchase to the RDA centre of your choice.

30-minute Weekly Webinars

The previous two webinars are now available to watch on our MyRDA YouTube page.
This Week’s Webinar (7pm Thursday 28 October): Use of language & are we as inclusive as we can be?
RDA UK Trustee and Strategic Partnerships Advisor for Activity Alliance, Jess Cook, on understanding the social model of disability and our use of the correct language. This is an invaluable presentation for everyone involved with RDA and we strongly encourage people to watch. As ever, if registration is full it will be available afterwards.

Next Week’s Webinar (7pm Thursday 4 November): Mechanical Horse Demonstration.

Next week’s webinar is going to be a mechanical horse demonstration, the speaker is to be confirmed soon.

UKSA Virtus Virtual Para-Dressage Championships

You may have seen that RDA are proud to have seven riders in the UKSA for the Virtus Virtual Para-Dressage Championships. They are nervously awaiting their results, so let’s keep our fingers and toes crossed for them.

http://www.uksportsassociation.org/uksa-para-dressage-team-hopeful-of-virtus-championship-success/

BEF Training for Classifiers

The BEF are running training for their classifiers on the weekend of 6 & 7 November and are looking for RDA participants to attend to show the Trainee Classifiers different classification grades. They need a mixture of neurological impairments – e.g. Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, traumatic/acquired brain injury and musculo-skeletal impairments – e.g. amputee, short limb (arm or leg), arthrogryposis, spinal cord injury, spina bifida etc. The training will take place at the BEF building in Stareton, Warwickshire and will be classroom based. Travel and lunch will be covered. Please share with your network and for more information, please contact Emma Bayliss ebayliss@rda.org.uk

Paralympic Superstars Program

Horse & Country TV have just launched a new one-hour documentary on its streaming service H&C+ called Paralympic Superstars with Champion, featuring Sophie Wells and Georgia Wilson. It focuses on the close relationship between the two riders and the hurdles they both faced, particularly their journey headed to Tokyo Paralympics when they both lost their first-choice horse just before the event.

If you are a Horse and Country TV member, you can watch it here: https://app.horseandcountry.tv/video/paralympic-superstars-with-champion-hctv062120001a

London International Horse Show Discount

The London International Horse Show (16-20 December) moves from the Olympia Halls to ExCeL London this year and is set to be one of the most exciting editions yet. The organisers are offering a 30% discount on selected performances using the promo code LIHSRDA21. More information and ticket booking at www.londonhorseshow.com.

Best wishes,

Brigitta Falcini

Communications Coordinator

Riding for the Disabled Association