This week at Ride High we are celebrating our wonderful volunteers.
Our volunteers play a critical role at Ride High and we couldn’t support the hundreds of children we do every year without them. The impact they have on vulnerable young lives is astounding, but just as important is how much our volunteers benefit from their Ride High experience.
“The absolute best part of volunteering every week is that I get to witness and be part of the transformation the children make in their time at Ride High. My involvement with Ride High has given me a whole new perspective on life and I always look forward to coming to the centre every week to see the children.”Sean – Volunteer.
There are a variety of ways in which individuals can volunteer at Ride High – from supporting a weekly session with the children, to attending a CSR day with their colleagues, and donating their time and expertise for the benefit of the charity.
Many organisations now offer their employees one or more volunteering days throughout the year, allowing them to select a charity to ‘help out’ for the day. Several teams come along to Ride High each year to help with painting, gardening and general maintenance, some organise special events for the children at Ride High, and on occasion we take the children to visit a company’s premises to learn about what they do. Whilst all these voluntary contributions are gratefully received our greatest need – due to recently increasing the number of children we work with each week, is for volunteers who can dedicate 1-2 hours on a weekly basis to support our group sessions. We’re therefore asking organisations to consider releasing their employees on a weekly basis for an hour or two for a term/ twelve-week period. Volunteering in this way allows individuals to have a greater impact and a more valuable personal experience.
Sodexo, an international organisation with an office in Linford Wood, Milton Keynes has embraced this opportunity and is encouraging their employees to volunteer at Ride High. In April, 10 of their team committed to volunteering for the summer term. They received an induction and training from the Ride High team and now support various sessions across the week and are finding the experience really rewarding.
Hear what four of the Sodexo team have to say about their volunteering experience so far…
Olivia
I am really enjoying watching the children grow in confidence and achieve things they thought they wouldn’t/couldn’t. I hope that my encouragement and praise is making a difference to the children’s confidence and self-esteem. These children are facing great challenges so for me to be able to help support them is really fulfilling. It’s also opened my eyes to some of the issues that young people are dealing with – this is particularly pertinent as my son is a similar age.
I think the fact that Sodexo supports their employees to engage in this kind of activity demonstrates how much they care about their local community. It also allows us, as employees to gain new skills and to get involved with something different.
I block out time in my diary for volunteering each week so that meetings aren’t scheduled and if I have to work a little later to catch up, then so be it! It’s really worth the juggle – I’m loving it and already wondering how I can continue to help after the 12 weeks.
Natalie
I volunteered because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and do something I haven’t done before. I’m enjoying watching the children become more confident in themselves, around the horses, and around each other. Personally, I am enjoying the opportunity to meet new people at Ride High and the sense of achievement I get from supporting the children.
It’s important to volunteer and support local charities so those who need it get to experience life-changing opportunities that wouldn’t normally be available to them. It has been really heart-warming to see the children become more confident around the horses and become happier and build friendships. For some of them, this is the only thing they look forward to all week.
Lisa
My youngest son is autistic and has historically benefitted from similar programmes for the disabled. I have always wanted to give something back in this guise having seen the positive impact in him, so when the opportunity came up through work, I jumped at it.
As my working life takes up the majority of my time, I would not normally be able to volunteer for something like this unless time is made available in the working week to do so. I’m grateful to Sodexo for allowing me this opportunity and think this kind of collaborative is a great way to get communities working together.
I have just completed my fourth week and it is great to see how much the group has grown, not just in riding skills, but in confidence. I am enjoying working with others and being able to support those that need it.
Having ridden myself when I was younger, I can empathise with those riding for the first time and it feels good to be able to support and encourage others from the ground.
Stephanie
As a teenager I struggled with depression and anxiety, I felt alone and struggled to find others who understood. I want to be that someone for these children. I also have a goddaughter with autism and have had to learn to communicate with her differently and now we have such a special bond. I like to think when she is older, she could be a part of something like Ride High and flourish.
I’m enjoying getting to know the children more each week, telling them more about myself, helping to reassure them and building trusting relationships. Only this week I had one of them tell me I was their favourite volunteer and give me a hug goodbye! As a child I liked riding and it’s good to be back spending time with the horses again. They’re helping my confidence as much as they are the children’s!
The fact that Sodexo is enabling us to volunteer in this way for a local charity shows me that they care. My team are supportive of my weekly volunteering commitment and the time is blocked out in my diary so know one can put a meeting in!
Olivia Sudgon, CEO of Ride High “It’s absolutely wonderful having the support of the Sodexo team. They all bring a wealth of skills and experience with them which is invaluable to the delivery of our programme and in supporting our children and young people. Now we’ve increased the number of children we work with each week from 80 to 120 we need even more volunteers. Working with organisations such as Sodexo is a great way to access new volunteers and we put every effort in to ensuring that they reap as much from the experience as the children do. Volunteering is also a great way to build strong relationships within the community and we hope that we’ll be able to continue to work with Sodexo in the future”.
Clare Coleman, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead at Sodexo has been driving engagement and encouraging employees to volunteer at Ride High…
“Ride High aligns with our Stop Hunger Foundation goals by empowering those in our local community to gain new skills they can use for their future. We provide skills based and hands on volunteering opportunities for our employees with local charities. Ride High has been an amazing collaboration and a chance to use both these elements in one. Those who have taken part have gained a truly memorable and valuable time. We will continue to build on this and offer our employees the opportunity to do this for years to come.”
Find out more about volunteering
If your company would like to give back to the community please contact us to find out more about our volunteering opportunities: admin@ridehigh.org / 01908 696169
