A HORSE riding club which supports those living disabilities has benefitted from a donation from NFU Mutual’s ‘Agency Giving Fund’.

NFU Mutual Agents and their staff at the Launceston agency recently nominated North Cornwall Riding for the Disabled Group to receive a donation of £7,899 from NFU Mutual’s national £2.33-million ‘Agency Giving Fund’.

The leading rural insurer launched this fund, now in its sixth year, to help local frontline charities across the country. The Agency Giving Fund forms part of NFU Mutual’s £4-million funding pledge for both local and national charities in 2025, to support frontline services in rural communities.

To ensure these donations reach all corners of the UK and are directed to where they’re needed most, all NFU Mutual Agencies, with more than 280 offices nationwide, have been given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund.

This donation will enable North Cornwall Riding for the Disabled Group to help individuals reach their therapeutic goals and to achieve personal ambitions. It gives an opportunity to combat social isolation and develop life skills linked with the enjoyment of the outdoors through the special connection with horses and ponies that proves so beneficial.

The aims of the group are to help enrich the lives of less able people through horses and to ensure all participants get excellent experience with RDA according to their specific needs. RDA is a community of people who believe it is what you can do rather than what you can’t do that matters

Margaret Cunliffe, secretary for North Cornwall Riding for the Disabled Group has expressed her gratitude following the donation and says a sum of this size will help keep the group’s work ongoing.

She said: “We are grateful to have the support of our instructors and thirty-plus volunteers whose wealth of experience allows us to routinely offer riding to individuals and school groups three days a week. We also have a small but hard-working committee that work tirelessly to raise the necessary funds to keep the group afloat, a task that never gets easier in difficult economic times.

“We’re so grateful to the Launceston Agency of NFU Mutual for nominating our charity to receive a donation from the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund.”

Rachel Sleep, agent and NFU group secretary, at NFU Mutual Launceston Agency has said that the organisation take great pride in their ability to support vital community services such as this.

She said: “We’re extremely proud to have nominated North Cornwall Riding for the Disabled Group for this donation and are delighted to be able to support the vital contribution they make to our community. The purpose of NFU Mutual’s Agency Giving Fund is to support local frontline charities who are providing essential services to people in our community, and our agency felt that North Cornwall Riding for the Disabled Group was a very deserving cause to champion.”

To find out more about the Agency Giving Fund, visit NFU mutual’s website.