Aiming for the future: what's next?

Coaching as part of Aim RDA. Photo credit: Lucy McKinney

I left my last - and first - RDA group at the end of March, just over five months ago. I said at the time that I was figuring out my next steps, that it had been a difficult decision, and that I knew it wasn't a forever goodbye to RDA. All of these things continue to be true, except the "next steps" are now very much current ones, and I think they're worth shouting about.

I am so excited to be part of Aim RDA: the UK's newest RDA group. "Aim" is an acronym, standing for "ability, independence, motivation", and also fulfilling the needs of a slightly nomadic new group for a non-geographical name. It was a massive upheaval to leave a group I'd been with since I was still at sixth form, but I realise now how good it's been for me to be part of something so new - and how difficult it would've been to try and do both.

The six of us on the founding board of "Project Aim" are no strangers to RDA, and have a lot of shared values and ambitions. We agree a healthy amount on where we are headed and how we are powered, but also have a fair amount of diversity in terms of our interests and experiences, in and out of work and near and far from horses. Aim was registered with the Charity Commission and RDAUK at the beginning of July, but the wheels have been turning for some months previous. It turns out it's no joke setting up a charity from scratch when your entire board works full time, and we've had our fair share of chicken vs egg (among other) situations which I'm hoping will turn out to be outstanding character building. Two things I've definitely realised are:

1. This is hard, often frustrating work, that we're doing for free: we must be genuinely passionate about making this work.
2. We need more RDA groups. RDAUK themselves were aiming to support 35,000 people by next year. That means we need more people who are willing make that happen (and who are as bonkers and bloody minded as us): the future isn't coming any slower.

I'm very grateful to my proactive friends and trustee peers who made it possible for me to switch headspaces from old group to new as quickly as possible during the spring. I've gone through a few phases in the last couple of years where I've really needed a rest from RDA, but it turns out that a change has been even better. We are also totally indebted to the generous people of Lambourn RDA, especially their chair, Frances. They have helped in so many ways, including allowing us to offer Aim RDA sessions at their centre on Saturdays. 

Aim's aim (ha) is to be a group which is both a familiar part of the RDA family, and something that's a bit different. We are starting off by targeting slightly older participants, including adults: many groups aren't able to cater for those above school age, and it's not unusual for people to assume that RDA is just for small children. Our region has also been desperately oversubscribed for as long as I can remember: it's a shame that there haven't been more new groups popping up to help the existing ones with demand.

As none of us had a yard and string of perfect ponies going spare, Aim RDA are starting out with two venues in separate locations. One of them is Lambourn RDA's existing centre at Chilton Foliat, near Hungerford. The other is Shrivenham Equestrian Centre, which is located on a military installation near Swindon and is part of the Armed Forces Charity, but equally welcoming to non-military clients. We have been able to tap into spare time for facilities and horses at both of these venues to enable them to be used for our RDA group. It's a big change of scene, although both venues are lovely places to spend time, and it's a new experience for all of us to be part of one group operating from two different locations. What's a bit of distance and a couple of new challenges between friends, anyway?

Aim's name - "ability, independence, motivation" - is so important to what we're trying to achieve with this new venture. We've taken RDAUK's "it's what you can do that counts" motto and asked of our new participants "what do we need to do to make it count for you?" Our numbers are still small, but have some big stories amongst them. I've realised many times how significant an impact a coach or key volunteer can have on a person's experience of RDA, and whether Aim's people are familiar or totally new, I'm looking forward to working out those relationships in a new environment.

I didn't necessarily expect this to be the next chapter in my RDA life story, but I'm enjoying how it's unfolding so far. There are new faces and old faces, a renewed sense of purpose and enjoyment, and comfort in the fact that I'm doing something I've believed for a long time I should be doing. As someone who has given so much to RDA and its people for so many years, it's really empowering to know that I have a choice in what that looks like in the present and future: for me, for people I care deeply about, and for people I haven't met yet. I'm also looking forward to writing more regularly again and to keeping my blog up to date with our progress at Aim - as well as all of the other RDA-related thoughts I don't have room to store in my head. I've continued to be amazed by the number of views my writing have received, even without regular new posts. 

I hope you're excited to come along for the ride.

Would you like to know more about Aim RDA? Our website is a good starting point, but you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It's very easy to get in touch with us via any of these platforms if you have any questions. Finally, if you like the sound of this new venture and have the ability to support us, we are currently running a Crowdfunder to help with our setup costs: every donation makes a genuine difference to our ground-up campaign.