Chigwell Riding Trust for Special Needs
A place built on care, courage and genuine joy.
I spent many months volunteering with Chigwell Riding Trust, a local charity providing riding opportunities for children and adults with additional needs.
Founded in 1964, the Trust was the UK’s first dedicated riding centre for people with disabilities and continues to lead the way in therapeutic horse riding. Today, it delivers around 160 lessons each week. Led by Deborah Hall MBE, the team has built something genuinely special, a place where care, dignity and enjoyment sit at the centre of everything they do.
It’s one of those environments you only really understand when you see it in person. Everything happens at the rider’s own pace, and you’re surrounded by a genuine sense of enjoyment across the whole setting. It’s a truly heartwarming and humbling experience. For many families, it offers something just as valuable, the reassurance that their children are in safe, capable hands and able to enjoy something that’s entirely their own.
The team behind it have given years to the Trust, and that shows in everything they do.
Spending that time there gave me a clear perspective on the difference it makes. Not in big statements, but in the smaller moments, the progress, the connection and the confidence that builds over time. It’s something I continue to support.
If you’d like to learn more about the Trust, you can visit their website below.
To learn more or to get involved:
Chigwell Riding Trust For Special Needs
Grange Farm Lane
Chigwell
Essex
IG7 6FB
Telephone 020 8500 6051
www.chigride.org.uk
Registered Charity number: 212644
Walking with Matthew
This was taken with Matthew, one of the regular riders at Chigwell Riding Trust, out for a walk through the woods on Bilbo.
Everything runs calmly and smoothly, and that’s down to the level of organisation, skill and care behind it. It’s a chance to connect and be part of something that has a genuine impact on the people involved.