It is the commitment of our volunteers that enables people with disabilities to interact with and ride horses to benefit their health and wellbeing. We welcome anyone who would like to be part of our volunteer team. Whether you can commit weekly, or not, we would love to hear from you, our sessions run on Sunday mornings between 9:30 and 12:30, and the team are at the yard any time from 08:30. We appreciate that this is rather early for a Sunday morning, if you cant make it for 08:80 do not worry at all, the lessons start at 9:30 and, even if you fancy coming for just one or two of the later session, it would be great to see you and more hands the merrier!

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You can download our Pegasus RDA Volunteer Application Form here.

We need volunteers with a mix of skills to make our group work. It is people like you, who want to share in the fun, excitement and achievements of Pegasus RDA and be part of the environment that bring horses and people together. We pride ourselves on high standards of care, safety and training and every volunteer is trained and supported to ensure those standards are met.  Roles are not limited to working with horses and riders, we also need people to help out with fundraising, administration and many other tasks. Volunteers must be over 14 years of age.

Volunteering involves being part of a friendly team, working to improve the lives of others. As a team activities are undertaken to ensure the smooth, safe running of sessions, and to welcome and work with people with a range of disabilities.

Types of activities for volunteers in the weekly sessions:

• Helping riders understand instructions

• Helping riders on and off ponies

• Walking with riders during the session

• Leading ponies

• Helping the coach set up the session

• Helping the coach with games in the session

• Manning the drinks stand!

• Although the yard don’t expect us to help them with yard duties, we do like to lend a hand!

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Other types of activities to get involved with:

• Fundraising

• Events

• Annual trip to the North West RDA show (May)​

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Training

We provide all training for our volunteers to ensure safety and understanding of the roles. There is no pressure or time period in which training is to be undertaken, we fully appreciate that some people do need more, or less, training and support than others. Klaudia is our volunteer training coordinator and we are pleased to help with any 

RDA use a Green Card system which is a declaration that you have been shown and understood the correct procedure to carry out tasks in a safe manner. Only relevant work with which you will be involved in needs to be completed and signed by one of our trustees. This system is in place for both safety and a requirement of RDA insurance. You are not authorised to carry out any procedure unassisted if you have not completed this element of training on your green card. You must not sign your card if you have been shown a procedure but do not fully understand or feel confident to undertake it. Please ask for more training.

 

Once training is complete the Green Card is sent to National Office for processing, a certificate is issued and you will also be provided with a Pegasus RDA polo-shirt!

 

Safeguarding

Working with vulnerable children and adults we have to take safeguarding very seriously. Megan Holland (Trustee) is our Safeguarding Officer and point of contact for any safeguarding concerns anyone may have.

To ensure volunteers are aware of safeguarding we cover off the important points and codes of conduct as part of the induction. We also work with RDA National and Trafford Safeguarding and Social Services Teams who provide formal safeguarding courses.

RDA National provides e-learning modules, we ask all volunteers to complete the safeguarding module, which can be accessed here.

 

Volunteer rights and responsibilities

As a volunteer, you have the right to:

• Have a named member of staff to whom you work with

• Be included in meetings, training, social events and functions

• Be inducted into a safe working environment

• Be insured by PRDA

• Be taken seriously by colleagues

• Be consulted on matters that directly affect you

As a volunteer we expect you to:

• Be reliable

• Arrive on time

• Notify Pegasus RDA if you are not available or running late

• Respect the confidentiality of the organisation, its riders and fellow volunteers

• Respect the rights of users of our service

• Carry our volunteering activities professionally

• Acknowledge decisions made by others

 

Join Us

We would love to hear from you so please get in touch via the Contact Us form or download our application form at the link above! All volunteers are required to undergo a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of the induction which is paid for by the group.