By Gabriella Payne
After years of hard work and community fundraising, the new Riding for Disabled ‘super centre’ is slowly coming together in Pakenham – providing a safe space for those with a disability to experience the joys of horse riding and animal therapy.
Located on the corner of Five Mile and Bald Hill Road in Pakenham, the once run-down, 25 acre block of land is undergoing a transformation as the dedicated team of volunteers pour their heart and souls into making this vision a reality – but there’s still a way to go.
Paul Beck, the Vice President of the new Riding for Disabled Centre said that the organisation were grateful to have been given the land by the Cardinia Shire Council and they had grand plans for the finished project.
“We envisage having an undercover facility and we want it to come across as a centre where everyone is welcome, for people who don’t quite fit in in normal mainstream society, so that they have somewhere to go and somewhere to be,” Mr Beck said.
The old Riding for the Disabled centre in Officer closed down about two years ago and Mr Beck and the team at Riding for Disabled Australia (RDA) were keen to see the new centre thriving as soon as possible.
“We are an organisation that works on therapy using horse riding as a primary tool,” Mr Beck said, who’s seen the benefits of the program first hand through his daughter Sarah’s involvement.
The President of the Pakenham RDA centre and former paralympic equestrian coach, Mary Longden, said that horse riding was a “marvellous” way of developing skills for people of all abilities.
“There are so many opportunities that we hope to give people,” Ms Longden said.
Whether it’s a mental or physical disability, Ms Longden said that riding and being around horses was beneficial in so many ways and described how it could help someone in a wheelchair, for example.
“When they ride a horse, they feel feet underneath them instead of wheels, and they can go places on a horse that they can’t in a wheelchair,” she said.
“It involves both the sports side and the therapy side.”
Mr Beck said that since receiving some grant money towards building the centre and the community fundraising efforts, the RDA team had been able to get the project up and running, but they were still in need of “a major cash injection” to achieve their dream.
“We are so grateful for the donation and generosity from Todd Devine Homes, who have helped us build a new toilet block [on site] worth about $50,000,” Mr Beck said.
“It’s just awesome what they’ve done for us.”
Mr Beck said that Fulton Hogan Quarries in Tynong had also kindly donated “about 20 truckloads” of materials for their car park, but the RDA were still on the lookout for volunteers and donations to get the centre ‘galloping’ along.
“We have some fantastic ideas and a wealth of knowledge but we need help with volunteers,” he said.
The centre is set to officially open on Thursday 8 April, and will hopefully see programs up and running by the second school term, while works will continue along to improve the facilities and make the centre a place for one and all to enjoy.
