Two of our Year 10 students, Lily Jones and Abigail Boon have recently arranged a horse-riding experience for young people who struggle with social anxiety, or have not had the opportunity to ride before.
On their own initiative, and using money raised from a non-uniform day here at TCS last term and funding they won at last March’s Youth SOUP, Lily and Abby arranged for five students from Dawlish to get saddled up.
The event took place at nearby Haldon Stables in Dunchideock on Sunday 15th September. After some breathing exercises to calm any remaining nerves, the young riders had the chance to meet their ponies and ride for an hour-long ‘walk and trot’ before grooming their mounts and leading them back to their field.
Abby said “It was such an amazing experience. At first, it seemed absolutely ridiculous and impossible to achieve. It just shows, if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything!” She added: “We came up with the idea, we secured the funds and now we’ve made a difference. That’s the sort of feeling that changes your perspective on what you can do, and the impact you can make. We’re eager to continue to raise funds so we can help more people in the future.”
Teignmouth Community School Principal, Mr O’Connell, said: “We are really proud of the way Lily and Abby have raised this money and enabled this powerful project to happen, all off their own back! This is a great example of how our students contribute and give back to the community. They are particularly impressive students and a credit to TCS!”
Local co-ordinator of supporting charity ROC Dawlish (Redeeming Our Communities), Mark Jones, remarked: “It’s been inspiring to walk with Lily and Abby as they’ve created this idea from scratch themselves. The idea to do this was already inside them; all we’ve done has been to encourage them to have a go.” Mark added: “This project is a great example of ROC Dawlish fostering collaboration between schools, businesses and charities to make something happen that is of direct benefit to local young people”.
Anja Kroening-Maynard from Teignbridge Community & Voluntary Services commented: “SOUP allows small projects and individuals to link with the wider community to make things happen.” SOUPs are growing in popularity across Devon as a way to connect people, fund projects and have fun in the process. Please feel free to contact Anja from Teignbridge CVS if you would like help organising such an event in your community: anja@ teigncvs.org.uk
