DONATE TO HELP OTHER CENTRES
You will notice that ARC has not run any “gofundme” or “justgiving” pages during this crisis. Sally has a fairly strong view on this despite a good few people telling her it was the wrong idea and ARC should be requesting funds as donations. The reason Sally feels very strongly about this is that ARC has very supportive landlords, some supplementary income from liveries and was in the lucky position that it made a small profit last financial year. ARC is all about making riding accessible, so we have asked, where possible, if members want to make a donation that they make it instead to the BHS Hardship fund. This fund is set up to assist BHS approved riding schools (therefore the ones that meet high welfare standards) who are struggling during the crisis. Don’t get us wrong – it hasn’t been a walk in the park for ARC through this, but there are some amazing small centres and start up centres all over the UK who do an amazing job with grass roots riders and we want to stand behind our fellow centres and support those who need it most.
Neither the manager or the assistant manager of ARC had their own horse or pony until they were adults. They learnt everything at a local riding school and did their first training and first qualifications there. It is no exaggeration to say that if there hadn’t been a riding school available to Sally or Martin when they were younger, there would be no ARC today. So please – if you would like to make a donation, then text HORSE to 70507 to donate £5 or visit https://www.bhs.org.uk/advice-and-information/coronavirus-covid-19/appeal
to make an online donation for a different amount. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their patience during this period and particularly those who have supported the online training, renewed their membership in April and supported the video channel. The video channel is still available to subscribe to (£15) and we are still adding videos daily if anyone else would like to join up – if you email the lessons email, Ali can advise you on how to join up.
Most importantly, we hope that all our members remain healthy and safe and we really look forward to seeing you all in June!