An early Christmas present, in the form of hundreds of tonnes of stone, has boosted the progress of a major project to build an equestrian arena for riders with disabilities in the High Peak.
Following a major fund-raising campaign, the covered arena is being built by the Buxton-based Helen Atkin Group, Riding for the Disabled (RDA). Once out of Covid-19 restrictions, the arena will enable many more people of all ages to enjoy the physical and psychological benefits of horse-riding.
Groundwork began in April and main construction is due to be completed by the end of the year. Tarmac, which operates the nearby Tunstead site, has donated over 800 tonnes of stone from its quarry. Thanks to the company’s haulage partner, Lomas Distribution, the stone was also delivered free of charge. It is being used for the access road to the new facility and the base layers for the floor of the new arena.
Wendy Howe, RDA Group chairman says: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to work in partnership with both Tarmac and Lomas Distribution Ltd to lay first-class foundations for state-of-the-art covered riding facilities for disabled riders of all ages across the High Peak. Both companies are locally-based and very much involved in the community, and because both are on our doorstep, they have helped us to reduce the environmental footprint of our ambitious project. We are also extremely grateful to Tarmac for its technical advice on the exact type of stone that would be needed, which the company generously supplied free of charge, and which has got us off to a really solid start.”
Pete Butterworth, Tarmac’s Stone and Powders director, adds: “It was a pleasure to visit this facility earlier this year before the pandemic restrictions came in. The centre clearly offers many benefits for riders with disabilities. We are delighted to have worked with our partner Lomas Distribution to be able to donate stone to help with the build. We look forward to seeing the arena open, enabling the RDA to expand the range of equestrian activities it can offer, whatever the weather.”
Richard Lomas, owner of Lomas Distribution says: “We were very happy to be able to partner with Tarmac to get involved in supporting such a worthwhile cause”.