I am a frequent visitor to Kingston Hospital, in-patient, outpatient, and just popping in with a pony – as you do. Over the last 12 months there has been one constant little face every time we visited and he loved the social interaction as much as the pony cuddle. 

When you spend a lot of time in hospital you don’t get to experience too many new sensations, so when we arrived with Trigger or Jack it was a sensory explosion for our young friend, the outside world come to visit.

We got to know Noah and his Mum pretty well and Woody and Noah became firm friends. There are many friendships that don’t need words, not just those between ponies and people.

We invited Noah to the stables to meet the ponies and have some fun with Woody, and were delighted that Noah was well enough to come along. The sun shone for him on every visit.  We LOVED having Noah visit as we do all our participants, but it meant even more to Noah and his Mum, Khadijah. This is what she wanted me to share with you: 

‘As soon as you step foot in Park Lane Stables there is an overwhelming feeling of passion and love for people and ponies. Noah tends to be wary of animals, but here he roams around free, intrigued, filled with confidence.

The atmosphere is a piece of heaven on earth for Noah. It’s inclusive of all abilities without ever being condescending, and truly changes the world of its visitors to a better place.

Thank you for inviting Noah into your energy field! For igniting a new adventure in his heart, aiding his soul to feel free, giving him new opportunities and ways to explore the world, believing in his abilities, making him happy, and for being a place that encourages a sense of personal empowerment, a place where he feels valued, connected and safe.’

Last month Noah attended Dominic’s carriage driving birthday party at Park Lane Stables, and the sun shone on us all.

Helping wheelchair users like Noah and Dominic is possible because of the kindness of H&L motors. We will never stop creating smiles in memory of Peter Laney who gifted our wheelchair-adapted carriage to us. 

Most of the Park Lane Stables team are volunteers who give their time freely for the reward of seeing the impact of our work on our participants’ lives. If you’d like to support our work, do head to our Donate page. Every single pound helps us to continue to do what we do.

You can follow Noah’s Mum Khadijah on Instagram