Handout 11 - Manx Carriage Driving 4 Disabled

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MEMBERSHIP
A membership fee of £5 is currently offered to all newcomers who wish to become
volunteers to help the charity to develop. As a volunteer you will be required to
turn out and assist at least five times per year.
Membership for persons with a disability is also available at £5, this gives them
priority over non members when booking a drive.
Charges:
A fee of £10 per 25 minute session is charged per person.
A FREE Taster Session is offered to persons with disabilities to allow them and us
to assess if Carriage Driving is 4 them.
A member group of the RDA
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
FOR INFORMATION GO TO:
www.mcd4d.org
BOOKING A DRIVE CONTACT:
CHAIRMAN
VICE CHAIR
SECRETARY
TREASURER
ORGANISERS
Arne Dahn
David Rawnsley
Janet Thommeny
Hilary MacFarlane
Liz Lillie
COMMITTEE
Margot Dahn
Diane Dale
Linda Kneale
Arne Dahn
Phone: 07624 322431
WHATS ON IN 2015
20th December Bag packing at Peel Shoprite
DRIVING SESSIONS:
..All sessions are held at Ballavartyn Equestrian Centre, Santon
Friday .4th December 1 pm to 3 pm NO DRIVING
Saturday 5th December 11 am to 3 pm Sliegh Rides
Sunday 6th December 11 pm to 3 pm Christmas Market
Friday 11th December 1 pm to3 pm Carriage Driving
Friday 18th December 1 pm to 3 pm Carriage Driving
21st December to 14th January Christmas Break 4 All Volunteers.......
MANX REG. CHARITY 1172
WE AIM TO MAKE THE WHEELS GO ROUND!
NEWS SHEET 11 NOVEMBER 2015
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Bertie Bassett Come Home!
SPONSORS & DONORS
Friends of the Charity
Mrs Nancy Blackburn
Linda Kneale & Di Dale
John & Stephanie Bateson
Mr Lowey
Mr Richard Leigh
Society for the Preservation of the
Manx Countryside & Environment
Peel Charity Shop
THE HEDLEY FOUNDATION
Appleby (Isle of Man) LLC
Picture: Bertie in his competition days...
We are delighted to tell you that MCD4D are now the very proud
owners of Bertie, as from the 1st November 2015. Ken Blaymire,
owner of Ballavartyn, kindly agreed to sell Bertie to our charity,
along with the Bennington Superstar Carriage. The transaction was
made possible by sponsorship from the Manx Lottery Trust, this has
enabled us to have a pony and carriage of our own.
This of course means more responsibility for the volunteers of the
charity as we now have to ensure his well being, keeping him healthy
and fit by regular exercising and driving him. We need volunteers
who have some spare time during the week to do this.
Bertie is very important to us as he is one of only two ponies available
to us who can pull the Superstar carriage which is designed to carry a
wheelchair user. See front cover.....
As a point of interest, we also own two new wheelchairs!
HSBC
Elizabeth Clucas Charitable
IOM Charity Committee
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In Memorium
NORMAN MOSS
Norman on his first drive, driving Bertie said “It is like going
back to my childhood days
when I played on the farm”.
Norman made a great impression on all our Volunteers and
will be sadly missed.
Vacant Position
Due to Personal matters
our Hon. Secretary Janet
Thommeny is leaving us as
from 1st January 2016.
We require the post to be
filled asap.
As a Trustee and Secretary
this role is pivotal to the
Charity’s overall functioning.
Can you help?
No experience with horses
needed or required.
Please contact our Chairman, Arne Dahn, for further information.
Our website, prepared by
Martin Moore from Celton
Manx is now live and available for you to view:-
mcd4d.org
Martin Moore is still working on
it so a few things might change
from time to time. The events
Page will keep you informed as to
what is going on week by week!
PHOTOGRAPHS:
Copies of any photographs seen in this
leaflet can be obtained as an e-mail or
print by contacting Arne:
e-mail: [email protected]
GIFT VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers are available from charity
Chairman.
Phone: 07624 322431
We would be delighted if you would join us at Ballavartyn Equestrian
Centre (on the New Castletown Road- just past the Mount Murray
Golf Club) between 12.30 and 14.00 on Friday 27th November.
Manx Carriage Driving 4 Disabled will be able to show you what our
volunteers, donors and sponsors have achieved in our first year of operations, demonstrating by doing, driving three carriages and ponies
in which our disabled members will be enjoying and benefitting from
the challenge of carriage driving!
We'll be recognising the progress our members have made by presenting some certificates to those who have demonstrated their proficiency.
The event will also include the 'official' presentation of a new carriage donated by an IOM corporate, and used to provide drives for
our increasing number of enthusiastic disabled members.
Light refreshments will be available in the viewing area overlooking
the indoor arena where members of the MCD4D Trustees will be on
hand to describe what's being done and to answer any queries, or to
make a note of anyone who would like to join our volunteers to extend our carriage driving provision!
Please 'R.S.V.P.' with the names of those members of your enterprise
attending (so we know who to expect) and, ideally approximately
what time you intend arriving (so we may 'flex' the programme to
show you most of what we do).
Whether you have supported us thus far or may in the future, you're
most welcome, and we'll be pleased to show you how this volunteer
manned, I.O.M. based charity is adding challenges and achievements to the lives of our colleagues with a disability.
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BERTIE’S BLOG – Number 2 Behind the Blinkers –
Observations of a Driving Pony
By Bertie, as told to Tub
.
Goodness me! Winter has arrived with a vengeance! I am very glad of my cosy
stable and my nice waterproof rug when I'm out in my paddock. Autumn was
positively balmy by comparison, we were able to drive in the outdoor arena,
making the most of the warm sunshine. Our drivers are getting very good at negotiating the cones, there isn't much room for error and I enjoy the challenge
too. The space between the cones is only slightly wider than my carriage and
very occasionally we squash a cone, but they pop back up again so you'd never
know :0) I'm also driven on the track which has a nice surface to trot on and adds
variety to my fittening regime. I may not have lost many inches, but as every
finely tuned athlete knows, muscle weighs more than fat. I have a veritable six
pack concealed beneath my winter coat :0) I have been enjoying some loose
schooling sessions too - a bit like lunging but without the rein. I am able to use
the whole school to exercise in, which also keeps my people fit running after
me!
As my coat is already quite thick I will be having a clip soon. I felt very sorry for
one of my neigh-bours, Megs, whose person decided to attempt to clip her last
week. Oh dear! Poor Megs was embarrassed to be seen without her rug. She had
hairy elbows, a furry chest, a Mohican running along her tummy and a saddle
patch that had more ups and downs than the Switchback road! Fortunately
Megan, who is one of the young ladies who looks after me, is very good at clipping and has tidied Megs up so that she is no longer ashamed to be seen in public.
I now have a field companion called Frankie who is a very pleasant young
chap. Frankie is a piebald Gypsy type cob who has the longest mane I have ever
seen. He wears it in plaits so that it doesn't get too tangled - the equine equivalent of dreadlocks! Frankie is also broken to drive, he is not as experienced as
me but tries his best and looks very smart in harness. I have been very glad of
his company as Miss Fluff has been away on holiday and I missed her very
much. She is now home and is as beautiful as ever, I think she may even have
missed me a little bit.
Saturday 5th December at Ballavartyn EC
In the Arena Cafe
Refreshments are available
Face Painting (£3)
Colouring Competition
In the Indoor Arena—Entry is £5 including Sleigh Ride
Sleigh Rides (on wheels)!
Mr & Mrs Santa at home!
If Santa is awake, gifts and prizes may
be handed out to children, providing
you have been good!
Theme & Activity Corners
Admission Fee to Arena £5
Organised by