To celebrate its 50th anniversary year in 2019, the Riding for the Disabled Association is marking the milestone through its 50 Faces campaign, telling the stories of some of the amazing people who make RDA the extraordinary organisation it is today.

Designed to challenge preconceptions about disability and volunteering, and to celebrate the diversity and inclusiveness of RDA, 50 Faces features a collage of portraits, as well as the surprising and often moving stories of horse riders, carriage drivers and volunteers from all over the UK.

“A 50th anniversary could be a time for looking back, but we wanted to celebrate where we are now, as leaders in disability sport, and also look to our future – helping even more disabled people to benefit from time with horses,” said Caroline Ward, communications manager at RDA UK.

“50 Faces is an engaging and interactive way for people to find out more about what we do – and will hopefully inspire more people to get involved.”

Jaspa Wynne-Williams, of the Meirionnydd RDA group moved to Wales from South Africa when she was about 18 months old and since then, horses and RDA have been a massive part of her life.

Her mum was an inspiring RDA coach, who was ahead of her time, pushing riders to achieve goals. Riders were encouraged to come off the lead rein and learn to canter and her group was the first in the UK to introduce vaulting.

As a teenager, Jaspa was roped in to help, and by her own admission, probably kicking and screaming, only decided to take up coaching shortly before her mum retired.

Jaspa said: “I knew mum was planning to retire and I realised someone needed to be there to take it on and Mum said, ‘Come on, it’s your turn now’.

“After 40 years of volunteering, I felt I had to keep her work going.”

Luckily for Jaspa her employers were supportive of her volunteer work and allowed her to take every Tuesday off to volunteer at Meirionnydd RDA Group in north Wales. As a teacher they saw the value her experience from working with RDA brought to some of her pupils.

The day starts at seven in the morning and doesn’t end until 5pm, so it is a long day, but a rewarding one.

“At the end of the day, I am shattered but in a good way and it gives me a bit of perspective about what is actually important in life,” Jaspa added.

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