Volunteer

Become a volunteer

Volunteering at Samford RDA is a great way to meet people, stay fit and make a real difference to the lives of others – so if you’re interested in joining us, we would love to hear from you.

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You don’t have to know anything about horses to help. You can be involved in horse leading, side walking, fundraising events or care and maintenance of the horses, equipment and grounds. Whatever suits you! As a volunteer, you’ll be trained and valued – and you’ll find working at Samford RDA both rewarding and fun.

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How

For your safety and ours we require all Samford RDA volunteers to complete a centre induction before commencing a volunteering role. The Volunteer Induction sessions usually run for 2-3 hours at our arena and will introduce you to the operational and safety requirements of Samford RDA. We also provide various training opportunities for volunteers during the year. Our Volunteer Induction Sessions are advertised regularly on our website and Facebook page.

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When

If you are interested in assisting with lessons, we currently run lessons during school terms on:

• Tuesdays (3:30pm to 6pm),

• Wednesdays (9am to 1:30pm),

• Fridays (8am – 2:30pm) and

• Saturdays (8am – 2:30pm)

 

You can choose any day (or days!) to suit you and you can choose to volunteer for an hour or two or for the whole session. Any time you can spare would be greatly appreciated. Of course, anyone is welcome to come to the centre at any time during classes to observe what we do, or to assist in other ways such as grounds and gear maintenance.

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What volunteers do

There is a wide variety of activities that volunteers can assist with around the Centre so there is a task for everyone's talents, including:

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• Lesson assistance

  • Grooming and saddling horses

  • Helping our riders prepare for riding

  • Leading horses during lessons

  • Side-walking during lesson

  • Assisting with games and activities

• Maintaining equipment and cleaning tack

• Grounds Maintenance

  • Mowing

  • Weeding

  • Levelling the arena

  • Maintaining our paths, sheds, fences and facilities

  • Working bees

  • Corporate volunteering days

• Paddock maintenance

  • Shovelling, piling and bagging manure

• Horse care

  • Includes preparing feeds for our horses

• Events

  • Helping out with fundraising events and our regular pub raffle

  • Helping out with on-site events including competitions, conferences and shows

  • Representing Samford RDA at community events including the Samford Show

  • Assisting Samford RDA riders during off-site competitions

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Requirements

We do have some requirements for volunteers:

• the minimum age for volunteers is 14 years

• all volunteers are required to follow the instructions of the coach at all times

• all volunteers 18 years and older are required to have a Blue Card under the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000. We can assist you to obtain a Volunteer Blue Card if you do not already have one. 

• All volunteers, regardless of age, must be fully vaccinated for Covid 19 to participate on class days. Unvaccinated people are welcome to help out with maintenance behind the scenes, but are unable to attend the centre on lesson days

• All volunteers will be assigned duties commensurate with their interests and abilities to ensure the safetly of all concerned.

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What to wear

Horse riding is an outdoor activity and you will be working in a sandy arena with 400-600kg horses. For safety and comfort all volunteers should wear appropriate attire:

• closed-in shoes are required (joggers, riding boots or similar)

• no open-toed footwear such as thongs, sandals or slides

• clothing should be fitted, non-restrictive and not too loose or flapping

• no dangling earrings or bracelets/bangles

• caps and hats are ok but should be fitted so as to not fly away

 

If you would like to join us, please call Samford RDA on 0458 246 883, or email volunteer@samfordrda.com.au