To all our volunteers who make every ride possible, come rain or shine, week in week out and even through a pandemic...you are the best! THANK YOU 

We will be looking at the new guidance from the Government over the next few days and making a decision about when we can start back, so we'll be in touch as soon as we can, things are looking a little brighter.  Take care everyone and hope to see you soon.  In the meantime keep the excercise going if you can as this will help when you can get back in the saddle!

We will be holding a special general meeting on 17th March at 2pm via Zoom.  The purpose of the meeting is to nominate and elect a new trustee.  For volunteers who would like to attend the meeting please contact the office and we can send an invite.

As a result of the national lockdown announced last night, all riding centres are now closed.  Therefore we will not be able to run any rides at the present time sadly.  So keep safe everyone, keep fit and active in any way you can and we'll see you as soon as it's possible!

Under the new Government guidance we are allowed to run rides where we have volunteers to help.  We fall into several exemptions including disability sport and volunteering, which apply across all tiers.  Obviously many volunteers are unable to help for personal reasons, isolating etc,  so in December we will try and squeeze in any rides where we can!  Your Ride Coordinator will be the one to let you know.  The under 5's rides have not started back yet and we hope to have more information on this soon.  Thanks for your patience and continued support!

Coop have kindly selected us once again for the latest round of fundraising, great news!  It's a really easy way to donate, as you do your shopping, all you need is to be a member (£1 to join) and select us as your 'local cause'.  For more details on becoming a member please go to https://www.coop.co.uk/membership.  Thank you.

Following the announcement by the Government on Saturday 31st October regarding the second lockdown, the stables will have to close temporarily from 5th November for a month.  We had a few rides planned for the beginning of the week but took the decision to cancel these from Sunday 1st November.  This is obviously very disappointing as we had worked hard to put new, robust procedures in place and had started to run some rides with limited numbers. We will keep everyone informed over the next few weeks as to when we can begin again.  Thanks for your continued support and please keep yourselves safe.  We look forward to welcoming you back when we can.

We're sure this will come as no surprise, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic we have decided to cancel the AGM which was due to be held in late October.  This will now take place in October 2021 when, hopefully, things will be back to normal!

Best wishes

The Trustees

Thanks to everyone for returning your questionnaires in July, we had a great response and your feedback has been invaluable in helping us plan ahead.  We're now working with Ride Coordinators and Leaders of each individual ride group to determine how and when they can start a phased return with some of the riders.  The new ride procedures will be tested out over the next few weeks and we are currently sourcing the equipment that we need to provide rides safely and within Government Guidelines.  Before any rides return we'll let you know what to expect, as I'm sure you'll appreciate we may look a little different!

There are many things to consider when planning the rides and not all will be able start back initially, so please bear with us while we work out the logistics and your Ride Coordinator will be in touch over the next few weeks with more information.

In the meantime take care and we hope to see you again soon.

The Trustees 

17 August 2020

We have made the difficult decision to cancel this year's Annual Picnic given the current situation regarding Covid-19.  We are obviously unsure of what the Government Guidance will be in August but it is unlikely that such a large gathering will permitted. Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support of FPDRG and hopefully we will see you soon!

We're sad to say we will be unable to run the gymkhana this year, given  the Government guidance regarding Covid-19 and the current social distancing rules which are in place.  It's normally such a fun event and one of the highlights of our year so we're all disappointed, but  it'll be back next year, so we'll look after the rosettes until then! 

It seems a long time since we ran our last ride in mid March and we're all missing our weekly dose of horse riding and all that this entails.  The horses and ponies are being well looked after and with the glorious weather, they're enjoying an unexpected holiday!  There is currently a lot of work going on behind the scenes, making preparations and looking at how we will need to adapt so that we can resume riding, once it is safe to do so.  We'll be following the  Government guidance and whenever it is possible we'll have the riders back in the saddle!  In the meantime, keep safe and well everyone.    

Glampfest had to be cancelled this year given the lockdown and will now take place in May next year.  We'll let you know the date once it has been confirmed.

In light of the current situation regarding the Coronovirus, we have taken the decision to suspend all our rides from tonight, 15th March.  We will review the situation at the end of the Easter holidays.  In the meantime please keep yourselves safe and let's hope we all get back to riding soon!

As we return back after half term when many people we know may have been travelling abroad, please could we ask all volunteers, carers, riders and families to be vigilant with regard to Coronavirus and other infectious illnesses.  If you have any reason to believe you may have been in contact with someone who is at risk, or who has travelled from the affected regions, please stay away from your ride until you are sure the risk has gone.  As a charity dealing with people with a range of health issues we have a responsibility to ensure all our riders and volunteers are safe.  For more information on taking precautions please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus for advice.  Please call your Ride Coordinator if you feel you should not attend and thank you for acting responsibly.

Glampfest have decided to make us their chosen charity for 2020 and we're really pleased to be involved this year. This local charity festival is run by Glawning and celebrates the outdoors,  along with music, family fun and some delicious food.  Sarah Martin organises the event and knows of FPDRG because she used to be a carer for a lady who rode with us!  The festival takes place from 15th - 17th May and we'll be there on Saturday 16th.  Tickets are available for anyone who wants to go along to what promises to be a colourful and chilled day, all set in beautiful North Yorkshire. Take a look at their website... www.glampfest.com

Ivy Bank Campsite, Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, HG4 3SS

15th - 17th May 2020

This year's gymkhana will be held on Friday 26th June, save the date!

We were delighted to receive a very generous donation from The Cone Exchange yesterday for £1035. The Cone Exchange is a Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Community Project, turning trash into treasure and creating and selling crafting for local good causes. It’s fascinating to see what they do…take a look at their website www.coneexchange.org

Nerys Mitchell, who volunteers there,  was able to choose a charity for her share of the donation and she very kindly chose us as she had seen the benefits of what we do in our work with children. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Nerys and to all those involved at The Cone Exchange, what a great community project!

We were delighted to receive an award to celebrate 25 years as an independent charity, at the recent Harrogate & District Volunteering Oscar Awards.  Morag Bennett (Chair) and Peter Nelson (Trustee) went along to collect the award.  The evening was attended by over 400 people, celebrating the many  volunteers in our local area!