What is the Young Equestrian Leaders Award?
The Young Equestrian Leaders Award (YELA) is a scheme for young people aged between 13 and 25 who want to volunteer within the equestrian industry.
There are progressive levels to work through: Bronze, Silver and Gold.
The scheme not only recognises the time and effort spent volunteering, but also facilitates young people to gain a range of skills and experiences, setting them up to become leaders of the future.
Why get involved?
Embarking on the Young Equestrian Leaders Award scheme is a fantastic way of using volunteering for personal development. The experiences will enable you to gain essential life skills such as communication, problem solving, organising, team working and self-management.
You will also gain invaluable experience of the specific area you are volunteering in, and the roles and skills involved. These skills can include working with young people, event organising, budgeting, fundraising, scoring, and stewarding.
Completing the award shows dedication and can be used to enhance your CV, university, and job applications. Volunteering can help build confidence as you meet and work with new people.
Getting Started
The award levels must be completed in chronological order, starting with the Bronze Level.
The first step is to line up somewhere to do your volunteering hours. The volunteering needs to be completed through an establishment that is part of a British Equestrian Member Body.
An example of this would be a volunteering through a Pony Club Branch or Pony Club Linked Riding Centre as these are part of The Pony Club, a British Equestrian Member Body.
Another example would be volunteering through an RDA Group, as this group would be part of the Riding for the Disabled Association, a British Equestrian Member Body.
A full list of Member Bodies can be found here
Once you have lined up somewhere to volunteer, the next step is to register for a level:
If you are a Pony Club Member you can register for the Bronze award for free by quoting your membership number in the registration form.
YELA helped me become more confident in my leadership and coaching skills. It has encouraged me to go out and try new things that I would never have believed I could do
Information on Award Levels
| Award Level | Requirements |
| Bronze |
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| Silver |
|
| Gold |
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*If you are a Pony Club Member you can register for the Bronze award for free by quoting your membership number in the registration form
Submitting an Award
Once you have completed a level, the easiest way of putting it forward for assessment is to email over a photo of the competed logbook, with any other relevant documents, to yela@pcuk.org
Once it has been assessed you will be sent a certificate and pin badge in the post.
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