Coronavirus in Edinburgh: House builders adopt charity's ponies

Move will help with day-to-day running costs during lockdown

Banjo the pony

HORSE-friendly house builders have proved the perfect neigh-bours - by adopting a stable of ponies to help a charity through the coronavirus crisis.

The 11 ponies of the Riding for the Disabled Association at The Drum in Gilmerton will be supported by the Taylor Wimpey East Scotland project next door.

With the charity temporarily closed during lockdown, the move will help towards supporting some of its day-to-day running costs.

Ena Gaffney from Drum RDA said: “We are extremely grateful for the support that we have received from Taylor Wimpey and we can’t thank them enough for their donation.

“It’s an expensive business caring for our ponies, and due to the COVID-19 situation it has been essential for us to suspend the lessons for all disabled children, young people and adults who normally use our services.

“This has seen a huge impact on our income and this donation will help us to sustain our day-to-day provisions for the horses, so I would like to say a huge thank you to the team at Taylor Wimpey.

“Each of our ponies are available for people to adopt and we have also recently launched the RDA Covid-19 Emergency Fund Appeal.”

Next door to Taylor Wimpey’s Kinloch Green development, Drum RDA usually provides more than 200 regular riders the chance to get in the saddle.

The experience has been praised for boosting confidence and social skills, as well as developing balance and coordination.

A Turnaround programme also works to combine the educational and therapeutic benefits of interaction with horses to nurture critical life-skills such as confidence, trust and respect.

Kirsty McGill, sales and marketing director at Taylor Wimpey East Scotland said: “Drum RDA is one of our neighbours next to our Kinloch Green development in Gilmerton, and we hope that our neighbourly donation to support their adoption programme goes some way to helping with their immediate short-term costs.

“Being able to work with local businesses and organisations that surround our developments is important to us and it’s great to know that we are helping to make a difference in our local communities.”

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the charity can do so at the Drum RDA website. www.drumrda.org.uk