For several years MacIntyre have supported a young lady in Wrexham on an outreach basis. Rachel was at first very timid and would not leave the house without the support of her Mum. However, with the support of MacIntyre, firstly in her home and then gradually in the community, she is now a much more confident lady. Her main support comes from Tracy who supports Rachel to become involved in new activities and to overcome any anxieties she may encounter when facing new challenges and promotes her confidence. Rachel likes continuity of support and Tracy provides this, encouraging her to enjoy new experiences and gain new skills. When Tracy is away I have the pleasure of supporting Rachel having built up a relationship with her when she comes into the office to enjoy craft activities and her favourite recreation of cooking and eating the results!
One of the activities that Rachel loves is horse riding. Wrexham is very lucky to have Clwyd Special Riding Centre, which through Lottery Funding set up CELT a special room with a mechanical horse and interactive screen offering a fully accessible service to people with additional needs who may previously have been unable to experience horse riding. Rachel was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of this facility and attended a six week course on ‘Snowy’, her name for the black mechanised horse! I was really delighted to go with Rachel and see her confidently take charge of Snowy and show me how much she was progressing. Rachel gradually built up her confidence and with the interactive screen experienced riding on the beach, in fields and other terrain, slowly building on her technique and getting Snowy to walk, trot and even gallop at times! The smile on Rachel’s face said it all and she was keen to chat about her progress and the praise she received from both the instructor and Tracy.
