Milton Keynes Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service

"The adolescents that I have referred to Ride High have by and large been some of the most vulnerable and 'difficult to engage' children that CAMHS has worked with. However, your service has been successful in engaging them. In doing so, you have taken children who had ceased to trust, often not willing to engage with any other services, feeling very isolated, disenfranchised, feeling a strong sense of failure and little optimism. Their contact with your service has resulted in their willing to once again begin to trust some individuals, socialise with peers, increased esteem and confidence and have a sense of purpose where they often felt none.

I just wanted to take the time to thank you and all your team for your hard work, and I look forward to continue to work with your service".

Dr Irene Granda-Gage, Clinical Psychologist

Milton Keynes Personalised Education Centre (Special School)

"We are really happy with the project and would like to continue using Ride High as a crucial component of our education programme for the foreseeable future. We are seeing positive change in our students and your support is having a significant impact".

Kirsty Brice, Director

"Excellent staff always willing to assist, encourage and support. The learning plans and targets are absolutely appropriate and useful. We love the course".

Clare Gott, Teacher

Milton Keynes Community Foundation

"The Milton Keynes Community Foundation has been most pleased to support the early stages of Ride High, an innovative and extremely well organised project that seeks to benefit some of the most vulnerable and marginalised members of our local community. From the very beginning, Ride High has aggressively set out to create a robust and sustainable organisation, spread the word in order to best reach those most in need and enlist the aid and support of appropriately skilled individuals to ensure an efficient and effective provision of service. Our monitoring of the project has demonstrated to us that Ride High is undoubtedly making a real difference in our community".

Bart Gamber, Grants Director

Woughton Parish

"Ride High has exceeded my best expectations. Interesting and educational activities delivered in an informal, friendly atmosphere. Staff supervise in a way that helps young people feel comfortable and not afraid to ask questions".

Linda Henderson, Community Development Worker

"The long term commitment makes a significant and important difference to socially deprived families. Transport provision is a major plus and the fact that it is reliable. The staff and volunteers really care about the young people. Ride High is one of the good things in this child's life and the memories and experience are something which he will draw upon in future years.He is more sociable, verbal skills have improved, confidence increased, knowledge of and experience of the wider world increased i.e. through visits and catering. He has gained trust in the wider world and also knows that the adult world can be benign and caring".

Social Worker

MK Family Solutions

"Thank you once again for making such a positive difference in the lives of these young people. We are hugely grateful for all you have offered them".

Natalie De Vernon, Practice Manager

"I have been extremely impressed by how much the young person I am working with has grown in confidence in both taking care of animals and taking part in group sessions. Not only has Ride High provided him with an opportunity to take part in horse riding there are also social events that he has taken part in which have also helped his communication skills, self-esteem and confidence. The staff are both professional, welcoming and are a pleasure to work with".

Social Worker

"As you know T came along last Friday for his taster session and thoroughly enjoyed himself. In fact he ran up to me yesterday and said 'Guess what, I saw the horses HUGE teeth and I cried, I did, I cried. Bearing in mind T has issues regarding any emotion, whether it be happiness or sadness, this was a real milestone for him. He followed on with 'I'm going back, I still want to go' which I felt is a testament to the ideal nature of the intervention for him as an individual. T has given in on many activities and planned excursions when he has been faced with any failure or difficulty so this again reinforces the work that you have done already by giving him this opportunity. All I can say is 'thank you', not sure that is sufficient but I really feel this could be a turning point for him and his future path".

Pupil and family support worker

"Prior to D starting at Ride High he described himself as a child who had no talents and who was not good at anything. He was an unconfident child who had limited peers and struggled with peer interaction. D is now on his third term with Ride High and he is a different child. He is now a confident child who reports that he has a skill and talents and lots of friends. When he talks about Ride High he is animated and excited to express what he does, he is extremely attached to his horse Hagrid. D has had a difficult year moving from the care of his mother to another relative. However Ride High has provided him with much needed stability and nurturing. Thank you".

Social Worker