FOUNDER, coach and organiser of the Manning Great Lakes Riding for the Disabled Association, Jeff Patterson has won the 2009 New South Wales Pearl Batchelor Volunteer of the Year Award.
The RDA centre, located off the Lakes Way at Rainbow Flat picked up four of the five regional awards presented.
Jeff's outstanding achievements over the past decade were recognised, but Jeff remains modest about it all, saying the centre's success is "a joint effort".
"Everyone at the centre is there for everyone else," he says. "That's what makes it such a great place to be and work at."
But RDA director Margaret Norman says: "Volunteer of the year is only a small thing in comparison to what Jeff does."
Margaret met Jeff in 1998, after he placed an advertisement in the Manning River Times to start a RDA centre in Taree, an idea he says came to him while watching television.
"I saw a 30 second advertisement calling for RDA volunteers on TV. And one idea led to another.
"I had become good friends with my neighbour who was a quadriplegic and I owned endurance horses so I decided to call.
"I didn't know much about it but I thought why not open up a RDA in Taree?"
He called RDA in Sydney and they advised him to hold an open day to assess interest.
"About 120 people came." Included in that number was Margaret Norman.
"I couldn't have got the centre started without Marg's help," Jeff says. "It was amazing she was even there, as she had just moved to the area for retirement purposes.
"She gave me advice on what to do and how to get the centre started. And then more and more people came to help."
Jeff says providing riding for the disabled "is the best feeling you can get."
"It is basically therapeutic. The horse's natural hip movement and action is the closet thing these people get to experience walking.
"And being elevated makes a nice change for them, as they are used to everyone looking down at them in their wheelchairs."
Ms Norman says Jeff has a passion for assisting people.
"And he has a gentle nature which means people of all ages and abilities are comfortable communicating with him and asking for assistance."
"Jeff is a valuable member of this centre. He is always there when needed, with a smile on his face and a solution to things that sometimes seem quite difficult.
"We only need to 'think' that we need something and if we say it loud enough, Jeff has it off and running," she says.
"Without Jeff the stables, rider waiting area, hay-shed, tack room, arena, fencing, gates, road widening, clubhouse, hobby horses and games equipment would not have been possible."
Ms Norman says Jeff's enthusiasm is infectious and he always has the complete support of all the riders and members as well as much of the community.
"The community and business partnerships which Jeff has have assisted the centre to develop are long lasting and strong."
Jeff is a volunteer, coach mentor, maintenance man, fundraising chief, and groundsman. He coaches twice a week and every second Saturday.
When he is not in the arena working as a side walker or leader, Jeff is out talking to new volunteers and assisting them to learn new skills.
For further information about the Manning Great Lakes RDA Centre phone: 6551 7799.
Footnote: Pearl Batchelor, after whom the awards are named, founded the Riding for the Disabled Association in NSW in the 1970s.
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