The Voluntary Action Calderdale column with Emma Worsley

Needing an owner: Sky is up for rehoming at the RSPCA.

Animals are wonderful.

That’s it. They make this world a far more interesting and happier place.

Whether its man’s best friend or a woodland creature, the animals in Calderdale and across the UK sometimes need our support but they can also support us sometimes too.

Here at Voluntary Action Calderdale our strapline is ‘improving local lives’ and that got me thinking.

Whether it’s working with people OR animals, the voluntary and community organisations in Calderdale strive to do just that; improve local lives. And in the case of one organisation that I’m featuring it’s the animals themselves who are helping to improve local lives!

Calderdale Riding for the Disabled

Calderdale Riding for the Disabled group hosted at Meadow View Stables, Ogden, provides life-enhancing experiences for adults and children with a wide range of disabilities.

The riding school has fifteen ponies which are used to provide riding and horse therapy in both group-based and one-to-one sessions.

The group has recently been awarded funding from Community Foundation for Calderdale to trial a new style of workshop for people with anxiety.

Participants learn about the therapeutic value of horses, how to care for horses in a series of hands-on sessions and take part in a peer-led session to explore anxiety.

For more information, please follow their Facebook page – Calderdale Riding for the Disabled Association.

RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and District Branch

RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and District has been rehabilitating and rehoming rescued animals for many years, having been established in Halifax in 1928.

An entirely self-funded branch of the RSPCA, the charity rehomes hundreds of animals through their Wade Street animal centre each year – including our wonderful Voluntary Action Calderdale office dog, Cee Cee!

The charity has in excess of 250 volunteers across the region and is always on the lookout for new fosterers, retail assistants (for their 11 charity shops) and drivers’ mates to help with their collections and deliveries.

If you’re unable to volunteer, why not consider donating your unwanted goods to be sold in their shop or perhaps adopting your next pet from the centre?

There so many different ways to help.

For more details visit www.rspcahalifaxhuddersfield bradford.org.uk

Halifax Hedgehogs

Halifax Hedgehogs is a small Hedgehog Rescue located in Halifax.

If you find a hedgehog you believe needs help please contact them via their Facebook page – Halifax Hedgehogs.

Next month, our column will be about the local peer-to-peer led organisations that can offer guidance and support through lived experience.