Children at the Ride High Equestrian Centre


LOCAL CHARITY CHIEF GOES OUT ON A HIGH


Milton Keynes charity Ride High was set up by Rachel Medill and has been transforming the lives of MK’s most disadvantaged and desperately sad children for over 11 years. Her life’s work during this time,


it has been a full-time job done on an entirely pro bono basis and, in 2017, it earned her an MBE for services to children. Over its 11- year history the charity has worked with over 1500 children. It has grown every year since


2008 and now as well as being home to the charity, The Ride High Equestrian Centre is a 37-acre social enterprise in the heart of Milton Keynes helping and


supporting a wide range of individual and corporate clients. Now that Ride High is


established in its forever home with a thriving business generating funding for the charity, Rachel is stepping back into an ambassadorial role. The new chief executive, Olivia Sugdon (pictured), has been working as a director with the organisation for a year and knows Ride High well. Rachel said: “It has been an extraordinary


ROTARY CLUB IS MAKING ITS MARK


Rotary MK is a new member of the Chamber, but the Rotary Club of Milton Keynes has long been a feature of the business community and was formed back in 1978. Much has changed since then and in 2019 the club was rejuvenated,


merging with its younger and more diverse self, the MK Rotary Satellite Club. Rotary MK was the result of this powerful and progressive change – an innovative and rewarding form of Rotary club. The worldwide Rotary motto, “Service Above Self”, remains at the heart of everything Rotary MK does, as part of Rotary International, which has over 1.2 million members. It is an exciting time in the club’s history. The club meets at the Holiday Inn CMK, where members can get together


on the first and third Mondays in the month for a two-course lunch and/or the second and fourth Thursday evenings for lively discussion and planning. All Rotary clubs raise money and serve both local and international


communities. Rotary MK organises an annual Swimathon, which last year raised over £25,000 for eight MK charities. This year’s event will support


10 inbusiness APRIL/MAY 2020


Willen Hospice, MK Hospital, MK YMCA, MK CAB, MK Dons SET, Hazard Alley and Dogs for Good. The club has also recently raised funds in other ways, attracting a Rotary International Grant to work with Patna Rotary Club in India to reconstruct a primary school and give the children desks and chairs, books, computers, and a new toilet block and hand-washing station. Co-president Jill said: “We put ‘fun’ into fund-raising: our recent Burns


Night raising over £500 and a lot of laughs. We’re always on the lookout for ways of supporting MK communities and are keen to hear from fellow Chamber members who would like to help us search and plan for the next rewarding project. You won’t be disappointed!”


Visit: www.rotarymk.org or www.facebook.com/RotaryMK ‘RIDE HIGH IS


journey. Ride High started with a small idea but once we saw that we could transform children’s attitudes and prospects we knew that we had to do more. “It is an


ESTABLISHED IN ITS FOREVER HOME WITH A THRIVING BUSINESS’


extraordinary privilege to work with young people who, despite having had the most awful


experiences, gradually emerge from their shells and discover they have so


much they want to do in life. “This has been the driving force behind the growth of Ride High.


Despite cuts in funding and a difficult economic climate we have managed to increase the number of children we work with every year. There is so much more to do, so many more children to help. “I am stepping back from day-


to-day management at a time when the team in place is second to none and the Ride High spirit runs through everything we do. I’m delighted that, in Olivia Sugdon, we have someone with so much passion and enthusiasm to take the organisation forward to new heights.”


Visit: www.ridehigh.org


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