Elisabeth Svendsen Trust

Well what a weekend we have just had!

All our donkeys have have been absolute stars this weekend. Saturday just gone was our regular Saturday club that we run every third Saturday in the month, we also had a birthday party at the end of the day for one of our regular special needs riders . Altogether we did 50 rides between the hours of 10am till 2.30pm, all our staff and volunteers were great and worked so hard, thats dedication for you.

We were also taking part in the Marple carnival parade in Cheshire which we do every year, it's always a great day, we took two donkeys, Molly and Rusty to the carnival and as usual they behaved impeccably, again the staff and volunteers who attended the carnival worked their little socks off all day, thank you so much.

Then on top of that we had a third event that we were asked to attend, this was from our very local high school (Wright Robinson Sports College) who are always so kind to us helping us out on our fair days etc. So off more staff and volunteers toddled and of course two very dedicated donkeys to the school. Neddy and Souffle were the stars of this event and they were so chilled out with all the various activities taking place throughout the day. They were a massive hit with all the children from the school.

On Sunday we were asked to support an event that was taking place in the park that we are situated in, Debdale Park. It was the official opening of their orchard and we were one of many people that received an invitation along with the Lord Mayor of Manchester. We chose Joey the donkey to take along to this event as he is a friendly little chap who doesn't often get the opportunity to go and about as he is not very keen on travelling. The event was only 10 minutes walking distance if the centre so it was a brilliant training opportunity for us to use with Joey.

As we were setting off out of the back gates, all the other donkeys came cantering along side the fence line to see us off at that point I just stood there looking at them all thinking, wow what a brilliant job I have got. We walked out of the gates and down the paths where we could hear in the distance all the other donkeys braying to Joey as if to say 'see you soon' and Joey just pricked his ears and eagerly trotted along to where he was soon greeted by lots of very excited young children, he was in his element. He even got to meet the Lord Mayor!

Today, Monday has also proved to be just as busy in a different way, what with four special needs schools booked in for rides and getting ready for Cheshire County show which is a three day affair there never seems to be a day that is the same as the last.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring I'm sure it won't be the same as today!