The Brae - Dundee riding Ability Centre

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People

Noted below are the Brae directors & staff, who play an active part in the general running of the Centre.

Directors

Alison Doyle - Director
Alison is a Lecturer in Communication at Dundee College.  She is also a Director and Company Secretary for Tayside Hardwood Floors Ltd.  She was previously employed as a Voluntary Services Manager for Learning Disabilities with Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust.  She was also Chairperson for the Voluntary Information Point and for Dundee Volunteer Organisers Group as well as being a member of Dundee Enable Point.

Sue Rolfe - Director
Sue is a graduate in Science, qualified school teacher and currently employed as a lecturer in the Special Programmes Section at Dundee College. Sue has specifically taught students with learning difficulties for the past five years. For over 23 years Sue has taught students with disabilities, ranging from sensory impairments to mental health problems and behavioural problems. A keen rider since childhood, Sue is joint Head Coach for Tayside's Special Olympics (Equestrians) and took riders from Dundee and other areas in Tayside to Glasgow in July 2005 for the National Special Olympics. Sue has been an RDA instructor for the last eight years, Sue brings additional talents to the Brae having taught green keeping and kept horses herself for the last 20 years. Her own students who ride regularly have formed a riding club.

Yvonne Miskell - Director
Yvonne is a Senior Pyhsiotherapist, of 30 years standing, working at present in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.  She has worked in Dundee for 15 years and has been actively involved in RDA work for 20 years. She has achieved Part 1 of the specialist physiotherapy training for RDA.  She has worked in a variety of areas including Neurology, Paediatrics, Learning Difficulties, Orthopaedics and Palliative Care.
I am delighted to be able to access riding all year round in the new Centre. After all the years of fund raising and hard work it is great to see our clients enjoying the facilities, having fun but also benefitting physically and mentally. It is amazing to have been involved from the idea of an RDA centre to seeing it built.'

Janet Parkinson – Director
I’ve been working in Paediatrics in Dundee on and off for 35 years, having trained in The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire. I have been based in the Physiotherapy Department at Kingspark School for many years, treating children of all ages in a variety of settings.
My interest in riding as a therapy started when working in Strathmartine Hospital in 1973. We used to take patients up to the hospital farm to see the horses. I had no experience with horses at all but was astounded when an extremely disabled young man, who had difficulty in sitting in his wheelchair, was able to sit and relax on a horse. This started my appreciation of the benefits of using the horse as a therapy tool.
I passed my part 1 Riding for the Disabled course and have attended many specific RDA training days.  I started the riding group at Kingspark School in 1991, taking children with therapeutic needs to Rowanlea Riding stables in Barry, Carnoustie. We had good support from the team there, but we always felt that we needed a purpose built centre for our children to access.

Alison Macintosh - Director
Alison is an MA Hons of St Andrews University in French and German, which she taught in the UK, France and America.  She was latterly a Senior Teacher at Harris Academy until her retiral in 2002.  She was accustomed to working with children with mental and physical disabilities.
She has ridden all her life, so on her retiral she was naturally attracted to helping out with Riding for the Disabled.  She has since then been actively involved in RDA work as a volunteer and group organiser.
In the period before the opening of The Brae, she was responsible for the organisation of the recruitment of volunteers.  In addition to this, she helped to look after some of the horses before they moved to The Brae, and is delighted to see them all happily settled in their new home.  Consequently, she was thrilled to lead out the first ever Brae rider into the arena on April 16^th.
She hopes to continue this participation in the work of The Brae for as long as her husband puts up with it!

Project Manager

David Doyle

David had been involved in the construction industry for the last 30 years. Working for a major local contractor his experience ranges from estimating, surveying and senior buyer. 10 years ago he set up his own building company and hardwood flooring company.

The Brae Centre Manager

Mary Sneddon 
Mary joined as Centre Manager on 7^th January 2008. Mary comes from a strong financial background of 31 yrs within the banking sector. The variety of roles undertaken in the Bank has assisted greatly in helping her adapt to her new role.

Mary says “ my job as the Brae Centre Manager is a dream job, in so many respects. Location, job satisfaction,  opportunity to meet so many great people, and most importantly a very humbling experience, when you see our riders, with a wide range of disabilities and the achievements they make during the riding sessions. The role is greatly varied and requires a high degree of adaptability. Although the job is demanding this is greatly outweighed by the many rewards it brings.

Yard Manager Profile

Christina Whyte
Christina joined the Brae on the 10^th March 2008, just in time for the horses being moved over, from North Grange Livery and Parknowe Livery, Fife on 11^th. Although Christina has been involved with horses from a young age, and previously ran a riding school/ livery yard, she has had very limited experience with people with disabilities.

Christina says “ I absolutely love my job, working with horses isn’t just a career, it’s a passion with me. And having the opportunity to work with such a great bunch of people (both clients and volunteers) is the icing on the cake. I find my job very challenging, needing to learn new skills on a regular basis, but this all adds to making it really rewarding.

Volunteers

The Brae also has currently around 55 active volunteers, who assist with everything to do with the horses, riding lessons and the up-keep of the Centre. They are a fantastic bunch of people, who work extremely hard and give of their time generously. Without them, the Centre would not be able to function at the high level it does. Feedback from clients, carers and user organisations is always positive, and they are very aware of the great support and service our volunteers provide, all of which contributes to the Brae Centre being a great fun place to visit.