Launch of new driving charity for the disadvantaged and disabled
A new charity offering carriage driving to disabled, disadvantaged and terminally ill people, is holding its official launch at the Scottish Horse Event in Edinburgh next month.
Rosemary Flexney has set up Sport Driving Unlimited with support from Amanda Saville of the Chariots of Fire driving display team, and other top carriage drivers.
“The idea came from the work Amanda has done with young people,” said Mrs Flexney. “A group of us thought it would be good to involve children and young adults in the exhilaration of carriage competition and the general benefits of being around horses.”
Riding for the Disabled already encourages adults with limiting physical and mental abilities to learn to drive, but Sport Driving Unlimited particularly wants them to try more competitive driving.
“We want people to experience the exhilaration of rushing around obstacles and the precision of dressage,” she said.
Mrs Flexney said they would be collaborating with equine centres in Scotland and the north of England, and are already working with a youth club in Cumbria.
Show jumper David Broome has agreed to be patron of the charity, and it is hoped he will be at the launch at the Scottish Horse Event on 1-2 December, as well as Amanda Saville, who will be putting on displays each day.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.