Tessa Munt MP joins the South West’s biggest carriage-driving group for the disabled on the last day at their first home.
Tessa Munt, the MP for the Wells constituency, joined the volunteers and clients of the Somerset Levels RDA Carriage-Driving Group for their last day of providing services from their home of the past decade.
For the past eleven years, the Somerset Levels RDA Carriage-Driving Group has been based at Yew Tree Farm in Polsham. This was the last client-service day at that base before the group moves to a new home at nearby Coxley, as the owners of Yew Tree Farm are down-sizing and moving elsewhere.
According to the group’s chairman, Caroline Sturgess: “Our last day at Yew Tree Farm could not have been more perfect. The weather was superb, we had a full turn-out of volunteers and clients, and we had the pleasure of meeting Tessa Munt.
“She really entered into the spirit of what we do, and spent time meeting our disabled clients, our volunteers, and our ponies. And she donned a helmet to be driven by one of our disabled drivers”, said Mrs Sturgess.
Tessa Munt said: “It was such an inspirational day with such an encouraging and supportive atmosphere between clients, volunteers and even ponies.”
Meanwhile, the group’s volunteers used the lunch-break to present their hosts of the past eleven years, Martin and Philippa Willey, with a commemorative gift of vouchers for the National Theatre and a flowering plant.
“Martin and Philippa have contributed so much to make this group enormously successful. We can only hope that our future plans will be a tribute to their input and inspiration”, said Mrs Sturgess.
Meanwhile, the group has secured TV and screen-star Anthony Head as its first patron, and attracted funding towards the cost of replacing its ageing horse-box – vital for transporting the group’s ponies to events for disabled drivers.