tesa®, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of technical adhesive tape, with UK headquarters in Milton Keynes, has begun an ongoing partnership with local charity, Ride High, who work with some of the most disadvantaged and isolated children in Milton Keynes.
Children aged 5-19 years old attend Ride High to learn how to ride and care for horses, take part in clubroom activities and projects, gain work experience placements and enjoy educational visits and residential trips during the school holidays. The charity also provides transport for all children they work with, collecting and returning them home after their sessions.
As part of a new continuous support campaign, tesa has fully redecorated Ride High’s 1-2-1 room, designed as a safe place where the children can relax and unwind, take time out or talk in private.
Established in countries worldwide, each tesa affiliate supports local charities associated with helping children. For the last 10 years, tesa UK has supported The Walnuts School in Milton Keynes, who provide education for children with Autism and other special needs. Initiatives run by tesa have included providing painting workshops, skillset improvement days and fundraising for a new school bus. The company continues to support Walnuts School but felt they could contribute further and help even more children.
tesa chose to support Ride High as they have a strong presence in the Milton Keynes community and the skills of tesa staff will be very useful in practice. Ride High is based at the Ride High Equestrian Centre in Loughton – a social enterprise the charity set-up to help provide it with a financially sustainable future. The equestrian centre is open to the public and offers riding lessons, holiday activities, livery facilities and corporate training – the profits from which go to the charity. With a 37-acre site, volunteers with skills such as carpentry, plumbing, painting and photography are gratefully received. In addition to the completed 1-2-1 room, tesa are planning a number of new projects to support Ride High in the future, including upgrading other onsite environments.
Before Ride High
Helen Dixon, Group Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Ride High says “Ride High provides disadvantaged and vulnerable children with a safe and secure environment that allows them to build the confidence and essential life skills they need to have happy and positive futures. We are very thankful to tesa for funding the restoration and decoration of the children’s 1-2-1 room. It is such an important space and it now looks amazing. It was a great surprise for the children when they returned from the summer break. It’s now a warm and welcoming room for when they’re feeling low and need some time out”.
tesa staff are all granted one extra day’s holiday per year to be used on supporting charitable causes. Many members of staff will be using these days to become more involved in the day to day work of Ride High, in addition to supporting ongoing fundraising projects. The company are keen to ensure employees are involved in both the raising of funds and the practical aspects of supporting activities.
Steve Plastow, Managing Director, tesa UK, says, “We have lots of ideas of how we can get involved with Ride High, not only in terms of money but also in the form of people hours. Rather than simply donating, we understand the importance of physically getting involved with charitable causes. We have already set up a notice board in the tesa office which focuses on the charity specifically and the ways in which we have helped. We are delighted to have already contributed to improving the lives of children who attend Ride High and look forward to the continuation of these efforts.”
