SCDA Volunteering Opportunities – Scottish Carriage Driving Association

** NEW IN 2026 ** – As part of the club’s work to introduce more people to our wonderful sport, all members are encouraged to complete the form below to let us know the ways in which you may be able to help us to support newcomers.

As a Driver or Supporter member of SCDA, this is your opportunity to offer your club whatever help you feel comfortable with, to assist us in introducing new enthusiasts to the wonderful, challenging, and very rewarding world of carriage driving.

Please tick all the boxes in the form below where you think you may be able to help. Note that you will not be signed up for any specific volunteering opportunity or event, without first receiving full details of what is involved – and there is absolutely no obligation to say yes to any request!

SCDA Volunteering Opportunities

Category A – Generating Interest in our Sport

Tick the boxes where you think you can help to generate interest and promote our sport to people who have little/no knowledge of carriage driving.

A1.

Try-Driving Days
Come as a driver with your own turnout including carriage with bench seat.
Note that you don’t have to be a qualified coach as they will also be present.

A2.

Try-Driving Days
Come as an on-ground volunteer or backstep

A3.

Arena Demos
Come as a driver with own turnout to demonstrate some or all phases of our sport, or as an on-ground volunteer or backstep

A4.

Yard visit
Have an interested individual visit you, either at the yard where you keep your turnout or at a suitable alternative yard, to watch and learn (at your discretion) what a typical session with your turnout involves

A5.

Event experience
Show an interested group (3 or 4 people at most) around at one of our club events, to explain what is happening, and to introduce them to some competitors, stewards and officials who can chat to them, explain what they do, and answer questions

Category B – Supporting Beginners to our Sport

Tick the boxes where you think you can help a beginner to gain the experience and exposure to our sport
that they will need before they make the decision to “take the plunge” to get their own turnout.

B1.

Provide your experienced turnout for qualified coaching
This can be at your yard or at a suitable alternative, to allow a qualified coach to give a driving lesson to a beginner using your turnout.

B2.

Provide support for qualified coach
If you can’t offer your own turnout but can assist a beginner in receiving qualified coaching, e.g. by being their backstep

B3.

Yard Experience
Have a beginner come for a series of planned visits to your yard, so they can gain a range of knowledge about our sport and experience the fun of carriage driving

B4.

Event experience
For competitors who are willing to invite a beginner to join you and your team for the day during an event, to gain a range of experience (at your discretion) of the fun of competing.

B5.

Breaking to Harness
Assist a beginner to carriage driving if they want to break their own equine to harness and need occasional on-ground help, either at their yard or during SCDA-run training classes.

Category C - Requirements Hub Contributor

Tick all boxes where you think you can be one of our “Requirements Hub Contributors” who can offer information or guidance to help beginners to find the contacts they need in order to put together their own turnout and take the step up to being a novice driver.

C1.

Finding a Horse or Pony
We all know how difficult this is, and if a keen beginner has no contacts or knowledge of their own then they need all the help they can get. The SCDA Requirements Hub will include a centralised resource containing information, provided by Contributors like you, giving regular updates of where potential driving equines may be available.

C2.

Finding a Carriage
Similarly, if a keen beginner has no contacts or knowledge of their own then they need help in deciding how and where to get their first carriage. The SCDA Requirements Hub will include a centralised resource containing information, provided by Contributors like you, giving general advice and regular updates of where potential carriages are available.

C3.

Finding the right transport
There are many different ways of transporting equines and carriages to events, and overnighting. The SCDA Requirements Hub will include regularly-updated descriptions of the various options most commonly in use, together with leads from our Contributors like you, on where to look for potential solutions.

Name *

Date: *

Any other comments or information you wish to share with us

Thank you for providing the above information, which will be held by the club under our existing Data
Protection policy (see website for details). Once we have collated all volunteer information, we will be
in touch to give you more detailed information on how the SCDA Volunteer Program will operate.

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If you have any questions about the form, or about our Volunteering Program in general, please email Allison at secretary@scda.co.uk

Thank you!