AN ACTION-PACKED AND EXCITING MONTH FOR POWER OF POLO!

The last few weeks have undoubtedly been some of the busiest and most exciting Power of Polo has had in a while! We’ve packed in a brilliant residential camp, announced two new trustees, become affiliated to our governing body and managed to visit various polo events in our quest to grow the reach of our wonderful little charity. Read on to find out more…

May Residential Camp

This was our second residential camp of the summer, held at long-time partner, Cool Hooves Polo. South Central Youth brought eight participants aged between 13 and 17, several of whom had never been on a horse before. As usual, the week culminated in a mini tournament, and it was truly inspirational to watch participants who had been wary of horses on day one scoring goals and hugging their ponies by the end.

One of the highlights for all was a talk on using equine interaction as a tool for improving communication. Often, participants arrive struggling to interact with the world and the people around them, but learning to communicate with horses shows them different ways to manage their own interactions; this in turn breeds confidence and resilience.

“It’s been an incredible week,” said one first-timer, aged 17. “I was nervous about sharing a space with people I don’t know, as well as getting on a horse and trying to do sport and I was anxious and shaky when I first got on! The session on how to communicate with horses was amazing and, in the end, the best thing about the whole week for me was bonding with horses and new people. It’s taught me the power of a positive outlook.”

We Celebrate National Volunteers’ Week with Two New Trustees

Our tireless founder Katy Hayward has been beavering away in the background to grow our Board of Trustees, and we couldn’t have been more delighted to announce them at last; it seemed especially fitting that we did this in Volunteers’ Week!

First up, we welcome Lydia Heywood. Through her organisation Cool Ridings, Lydia works to improve diversity in equine sports, and we are so thrilled that she has agreed to share her expertise with us. “Distributing opportunities in the equine world is what drives me and seeing Power of Polo existed last year filled me with such excitement. What you’re doing is something I want to stay involved in and I can’t wait to see all the ways in which I can help. Thank you for the invitation to be a trustee!”

Our second new trustee is Gemma Snell, a long-term supporter of POP through her work with national homelessness charity Alabaré. Gemma has over 20 years’ experience working with young people in a myriad of different ways. “I’ve had the privilege of working with Power of Polo first hand. Witnessing the impact of these experiences and listening to how it’s been a life-changing opportunity for some has been incredible. I’ve become a huge supporter of the charity’; I’m honoured to have been asked to contribute as a trustee.”

POP Board of Trustees Chairman, Vivek Rawal, said “We are thrilled to welcome Lydia and Gemma to our board; they’re both experts in their fields and will bring a huge amount to the table. I want to take this moment, fittingly in Volunteers’ Week, to thank the existing members of our board and everyone else who gives their time so generously to help us deliver what we do: changing lives through the sport we love.”

Look out for our updated Trustees page on our website soon and learn more about the amazing volunteers behind Power of Polo.

POP Becomes HPA-Affiliated Organisation

The announcement that Power of Polo had become an affiliated organisation to the sport’s UK-governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, was a huge moment in our journey. Suffice to say, we’re unbelievably excited about working more closely with the HPA and the doors this will open in the polo world and beyond. You can read more about what this means for us here.

Polo in the Park

We always love visiting Polo in the Park and this year was no exception. We loved being part of the pitch invasion and getting to talk to members of the public about what we do; the whole event is such a brilliant showcase for the sport of polo! Thank you, Polo in the Park, for having us once again.

Some Important Thank Yous!

It takes a village, as they say, and there are a lot of individuals and organisations we need to thank this month. So, in no particular order, our thanks go to: South Central Youth, Cool Hooves Polo, The Royal Berkshire Polo Club, Guards Polo Club, Genevieve & Suzie Meadows, Eddie Kennedy, Timi Badiru, Amies Kitchen, Dr Felicity Cobbold from Emerson Watson Vets, Black Hound Sports, Hobbit Rosettes, HireGo, Van Dorsh, Chris Bruckner, Oxford Polo, Emerald Motion Media, Polo in the Park and the entire Power of Polo team.

Coming Up

The UK polo season is always a busy time for us, and we’ve got plenty to look forward to. Our annual Change Your Line Charity Cup is on 20th June at Guards Polo Club and is generously sponsored once again by Outsourcing Inc. This is always the highlight of our year, when participants from different courses, plus supporters, come together to play on this beautiful ground and celebrate what they’ve achieved.

We’re always looking for opportunities to grow and reach new audiences; please get in touch if you want to help us to do this!

And Finally…

In May our Youth Advisor Jhemar Jonas was recognised for his youth work with an invitation to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party! What a shame he couldn’t take a polo pony with him…