Ride High

Children's team seeking friendly, encouraging, supportive volunteers that are open to working with horses. No experience necessary.

At Ride High MK, our charity helps over 120 children a week. These local children are referred to us for many reasons and could face serious challenges including poverty, mental health issues, and social isolation or be tackling issues such as grief, young carer responsibilities and bullying. With referrals from over 40 local agencies, including CAMHS, schools, and social services, Ride High plays a critical role in Milton Keynes’ social care and wellbeing landscape. We do this through a unique combination of equine-assisted learning and education. 

Every two-hour session for the children consists of one hour riding and horse care and one hour of clubroom work. The instructors at the riding school run the hour on the yard with our volunteers supporting the children and our skilled club leaders run the clubroom sessions. These include various projects and creative activities to work on personal and life skills.

The Children’s volunteer role involves welcoming the children, helping to find their equipment, getting them out into the stable yard for their lesson on time, assisting with riding lessons where appropriate (no experience necessary) and clubroom activities, giving the children refreshments and helping to see that they get their transport home.

We are looking for volunteers, aged 18 or over, who can commit to a regular weekly time to work with the children; helping to build their confidence, encouraging them to participate in sessions. Our greatest need is for volunteers who can help in the yard sessions, donating an hour of their time each week for the first hour of the session to help us keep the children safe and giving reassurance and encouragement so they get the most out of their session with the horses. The volunteers lead our horses while the children hone their skills and help them to understand and process directions from their riding instructors.

Timings: 

Monday to Friday (term-time only). 10:30am - 12:30pm 1:30pm-2:30pm or 2:30pm-3:30pm