RDA UK Update 17 September

To Group Contacts & Chairs, Regional & County Chairs & Coaches, National Activity Leads

This bulletin contains:

• Survey about activity levels/closure

• Ed Bracher Webinar

• COVID-19 updates

• Microchipping deadlines

• Brilliant person award

• Last email bulletin

Group survey into activity levels

We’d be grateful for 5 minutes of your time to complete our questionnaire into activity levels and continued group closures. All groups can take part, but ideally just one submission per group please. The aim of the survey is two-fold: to give us a snapshot of participant activity across the organisation, and to ensure we have a complete picture of the various factors that are making it difficult for other groups to start back. Both of these will help us provide better support to groups and provide useful information for the wider equestrian, sport and volunteer sectors.

Please choose who will fill it in from your group (the questions are straightforward but you’ll need a working knowledge of activities on site or decision-making at your group). The link for the survey is: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RDAActivityLevels

It opens today and will close at the end of the month. Thank you.

RDA Chief Executive Webinar

A reminder to sign up for the latest webinar from Chief Executive Ed Bracher, which takes place on Friday at 18th September 2pm. Ed will be talking about the very different place RDA is in compared to a usual September, and how RDA is preparing for the challenges ahead.

You sign up to watch live at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pX-QsVt4QnaqCOnyMWE80w or watch the recording afterwards.

COVID-19 Updates

Since our last bulletin there have been changes to the general guidance with the introduction of the rule of six in both Scotland and Wales. This does not change any restrictions to our activities. This is detailed in the latest update at the top of the Getting Started After Lockdown page.

Microchipping deadlines

There are a number of microchipping deadlines looming that you need to be aware of. From these dates it will be mandatory for all horses, ponies and donkeys to be microchipped:

England: 1 October 2020 Scotland: 28 March 2021 Wales: 12 February 2021

There is currently no deadline for Northern Ireland.

Comprehensive information is available via British Equestrian. If you have any queries, please contact your Regional Equine Advisor, Regional Vet, contact details available here, or Emma Bayliss ebayliss@rda.org.uk.

Brilliant Person Award and #RDAShoutOuts

Entries are streaming in for our Brilliant Person Award, which will be presented on AGM day, 6 November. Nominations are welcome until 2 October from around the organisation so please share the link with your whole team: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9L6QD99

Those of you on Twitter following @RDAnational will be spotting our daily #RDAShoutOuts. Keep your suggestions coming in (even if you’re not on Twitter yourself), by emailing cward@rda.org.uk or DM on Twitter.

Last email bulletin

Since lockdown, we have been updating you with these email bulletins to keep you informed in a timely manner during this fast changing situation. We have tried to keep these emails as concise and relevant as possible throughout this period.

As we all know, the crisis is by no means over, but the pace of change has slowed (at least for the time being), and the type of information groups need has changed depending on their ability to restart.

From next week, we will be replacing these bulletins with a weekly email, issued on Thursdays, to keep all groups up to date with news from RDA UK.

Alert bulletins will only be issued if situations arise that need immediate action.

As you know, we update our guidance on MyRDA as soon as possible after any change in government (and devolved government) advice. This will continue to be the best place to go to for groups returning to activity and looking for guidance on best practice and new ideas.