Chelmsford Insurance Broker Is First Sponsor of New Disabled Riding Centre

14 Aug Chelmsford Insurance Broker Is First Sponsor of New Disabled Riding Centre

Disabled children from across Essex and pupils at The Belsteads School in Little Waltham will be riding high when they return after the summer break, thanks to the financial support of local Chelmsford-based insurance broking firm, Ascend Broking.

Ascend Broking, which has enjoyed phenomenal success since being founded by managing director, Matthew Collins, in 2017, has become the first sponsor of a brand-new Riding for the Disabled Group based at the school.

The Little Belsteads RDA – part of the Riding for the Disabled Association’s network – has been founded by its Chairman, Peter Adams, to bring the benefits of riding and equine interactions to disabled children. The centre is based at The Belsteads School in Little Waltham, just a few miles from Ascend’s offices on the Chelmsford Business Park.

Ascend Broking’s team is now in close liaison with the RDA group, planning a series of events to raise money for its activities. These are focused on enabling disabled children to become physically and mentally stronger through riding, raising their self-esteem and social skills and reaping the benefits of equine therapy, proven to be highly effective in enriching lives.

The new riding centre, is making good use of Belstead School’s equine facilities, which include a menage and several paddocks – facilities that support a school at which horse riding is integrated into the bespoke curriculum that pupils enjoy. This contributes to the school’s ethos of supporting those who struggle to exceed in education elsewhere due to the complexity of their needs, by offering different means of support for emotional and behavioural development.

RDA centres enrich the lives of over 25,000 children and adults across the UK, providing therapy, a sense of achievement and fun around horses. Riding increases fitness, muscle strength, balance and coordination, strengthening the core in particular. It also provides the rider with more confidence, an enhanced ability to forge relationships and better communications skills. Coming together as a group also helps the riders gain a shared sense of purpose and belonging.

Ascend Broking’s managing director, Matthew Collins, says: “We are delighted to make this new Essex-based RDA Centre our sponsored cause for 2019, in the RDA’s 50th anniversary year. As a business, we recognise that our success depends upon having a vibrant, considerate and cohesive community around us and this cannot be achieved by goodwill alone. We firmly believe in supporting grassroots causes, for this reason, and believe the inclusive nature of Little Bellfields RDA, as well as the benefits horse riding can impart, make this a most worthy cause to sponsor.”

Speaking on behalf of the Little Bellfields RDA, Peter Adams, says: “I thank Ascend Broking for reaching out to us, especially in our infancy. Starting a new charity is very hard, but it has been made a lot easier by Matt and the team pledging their support. I believe every charity is a good cause and recognise that it is very hard to choose which ones to support. I can assure Ascend Broking that its team is supporting a small local charity where every single penny received is very much needed and being put to good use for Essex children.”

Despite also being in its relative infancy, Ascend Broking has already won two national awards within its insurance sector at The Commercial Insurance Awards and been nominated for a further 12, taking on some huge insurance organisations in its industry’s most prestigious national awards.