## **THE ROSSWAY GROUP** **Riding for the Disabled Association Incorporating Carriage Driving (** Registered under charity number 1188574 “the Group”) ## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2024** ## **1. Administrative details** The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report of Rossway Group Riding for the Disabled Association incorporating Carriage Driving (“Rossway RDA”, “the Group”), charity number 1188574 registered at Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre, Cherry Lane, Amersham, Bucks, HP7 0QF. The Trustees who served throughout the year to 31 March 2024 were: Irene Purse Richard Allison Vivienne Bryan Heather James Malcolm Elderfield Hazel Rymer Christopher Wilton Richard Allison passed away in July 2024 and Caren Graffham was invited to join the Trustees. Caren Graffham will retire at the AGM and seek re-election. Two Trustees are required to stand down by rotation at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 3 December 2024. Heather James and Malcolm Elderfield will stand down at the AGM. Heather James . will seek re-election. Clare French will seek election at the AGM New trustees are recruited from our group of volunteers and adult riders with consideration taken of any specialist skills they may bring to this important governance role. They are invited to stand as a Trustee and will have the role and responsibilities explained to them and will be nominated and seconded at the next AGM, including any Trustees who were appointed by the Trustees during the year. ## **2. Structure, governance and management** Rossway RDA is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation incorporated under its Constitution dated 16 March 2020. ## **3. Objectives and activities** Rossway RDA was incorporated to promote the objects of The Riding for The Disabled Association incorporating Carriage Driving, a national charity registered under charity number 244108, by providing disabled people with the opportunity to ride and or carriage drive to benefit their health and well-being in the vicinities of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. In accordance with the guidelines as per above, Rossway RDA’s aim is to give children and adults who have physical or cognitive difficulties the opportunity to learn to ride in a fun, safe and relaxed way. The Group upholds the strict guidelines as laid down in the Constitution and the Trustees are satisfied that the Group provides a useful public benefit and operates in accordance with the objectives. ## **4. Achievements and performance** This year we have continued to run sessions on Thursday afternoons at Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre. We are grateful for the use of the indoor school facilities and hacking areas for our sessions. The staff look after our ponies brilliantly and pony welfare is always their first concern. We are also grateful to Wendover Park Equine Vets who know all our ponies well and provide considerable amounts of advice and support. In 5 separate lessons, we support approximately 12 children and 11 adults of mixed abilities. A special needs school attend regularly and teenage children ride for a term or half term each. This provides an opportunity for skills and confidence development and in some cases the children can attend for more than one term. For riding to be as accessible as possible, we keep our riding fees as low as possible. Our other riders are mainly adults with a variety of needs. Each is assessed regularly, and an individual plan is made for progression and development. Classes have worked on dressage skills and independent riding. Some riders participated in the RDA Regionals at Berkshire College of Agriculture this year with 2 of our ponies. We have 6 of our own ponies (a mixture of owned and loaned) and access to 2 others on a regular basis. The age of our ponies means that its increasingly likely that there will be periods of time when some are unable to work and we also need a succession plan for the older ones. Due to the retirement of one of our horses and the age of the other ponies, the Trustees have agreed that we need to secure 2 more horses to accommodate our larger riders. The aim is to do this through the purchase of a young horse and the loan of an older one. The purchase will be made possible through fundraising. We are extremely grateful for the ongoing efforts of the fundraising committee who have secured the funds for pony purchase, vet bills and website development. Currently there are 6 qualified coaches, 2 coach-in-training and approximately 15 volunteers who regularly attend. There is a steady number of active volunteers and while some are able to help every week for many years, many are not able to make a long-term commitment. This means that we always have a need for new volunteers. Rossway RDA is entirely dependent on volunteers and so special thanks go to everyone who helps in any way with the ponies or the riders or behind the scenes. Our visibility has improved this year through the update of the www.rosswayrda.org website and increased use of Facebook pages. New enquiries come through these channels and through word-of-mouth contacts. We have a waiting list of riders of all ages. We continue to have a challenge to match increasing numbers of rider applicants with suitable ponies and having enough volunteers in place to support them. ## **5. Financial review** **Current account balance at 31 March 2024: £1,912 (31 March 2023: £4,731) Savings account balance at 31 March 2024: £ 16,103 (31 March 2023: £22,247)** The Trustees’ reserves policy is to retain sufficient funds to meet significant vet fees and to purchase new horses as the current ones are retired. To support this policy, the Fundraising Committee have an annual target of £6,000 and have successfully raised funds to allow the Group to meet the Trustees’ objective to purchase another horse. Along with the Fundraising Committee target, increased rider income will enable the Group to continue to meet its objectives. **To be Signed on behalf of the Trustees:** **Hazel Rymer and Vivienne Bryan** **26[th] January 2025** ## **The Rossway Group Riding for the Disabled Association Incorporating Carriage Driving Charity number 1188574** ## **Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 March 2024** ||**2024**|**2023**| |---|---|---| ||£|£| |**INCOME**||| |Donations|4,072|11,726| |Ride money|7,588|8,125| |Sharer|1,953|0| |Bank interest|857|263| |**TOTAL INCOME**|**14,470**|**20,114**| |||| |**EXPENDITURE**||| |Hire and keep|5,159|4,359| |Tack|2,254|50| |Vet fees|3,135|1,080| |Ponyinsurance|1,666|384| |RDA insurance|460|460| |New horse|7,500|0| |Website|2,730|0| |Sundries|528|415| |**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**|**23,432**|**6,748**| |||| |**INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE**|**(8,962)**|**13,366**| Bank balances at 31 March 2023 - £4,731 and £22,247 Bank balances at 31 March 2024 - £1,912 and £16,103