Round England Charity Rider Forced to Walk Across London

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William and Strider raising funds for Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre

A man riding round England raising money for charities including the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre has been forced to change his plans and cross London on two feet.

65 year-old William Reddaway and his horse Strider are travelling to all four corners of England via 30 Cathedrals to raise awareness for two charities, the Family Holiday Association and the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre - Riding for the Disabled.

Now though, over halfway through their mammoth journey and on travelling part way through London, William has had to drastically rethink his London plans.

On Thursday September 5, William and Strider passed close to an incident near the Harrow Road involving up to eight emergency service vehicles and associated sound of sirens. Strider had never faced this number and intensity of sound before.

The pair pass it successfully but Strider was quite agitated and William decided that it would be wrong to risk the much more intense situation that could occur in narrower streets, and decided instead to now walk the route through London.

William, who has already travelled with his horse over 1,500 miles from Gloucestershire is now walking through London for five days, passing the Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane on Wednesday, reaching The Emirates Stadium on Thursday and on Friday crossing London Bridge to be at Southwark Cathedral by 1pm.

William and Strider will then continue on their journey for a further 1,000 miles, expecting to arrive home some time in December after travellling over 2,500 miles.

You can find out more about the ride on the Ride Round England Facebook page and on Strider's own Twitter feed.

William also his own blog and you can make donations at the Ride Round England Virgin Moneygiving page. To date William and Strider have raised almost £34,000, which will be divided equally between the two charities.

The Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre was founded in 1989. It is a registered charity providing riding and equine therapy for children and young people.

Over the years the centre has grown from 3 ponies and hand built stables to a professional establishment with 16 suitable horses and ponies. There is a large indoor riding arena with seating area and a traditional purpose built stable yard.

The centre is run by a small team of experienced and qualified staff.

The centre says: " Our mission is to improve the quality of the lives of the children and young people who attend the centre.To encourage children to remain innocent children by giving them the opportunities of learning to ride and care for ponies in a safe and supportive environment."

September 11, 2013

 

 

September 11, 2013