Services to The Pony Club recognised in New Year’s Honours list

A Mayfield woman was named in the New Year’s Honours list for her service to The Pony Club over the last 30 years.

Joanna Tindall is to be awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to The Pony Club. Her first introduction to The Pony Club was as a child member of the Ledbury branch in Herefordshire. She said horses and ponies have always been a part of her life and as a family they’ve kept their own for many years.

She first became involved with the Eridge branch when her son was a member of the club at age six. Joanna and a friend were asked to help out with membership. She said: “Before I knew it I became the secretary.”

Joanna Tindall is to be awarded a British Empire Medal

From there she was appointed District Commissioner which was her position up until just a year ago. In total Joanna has been involved with the branch for 30 years.

The Pony Club is a youth organisation run by volunteers and split into areas and branches, with each branch having its own District Commissioner, Secretary and Committee. Eridge is a competitive branch with an average membership of 150 aged from as young as three years old to 25. The branch runs around five competitions each year for its members. It has even been fortunate enough to hold race days at Lingfield over the past 15 years which enables the children to race using professional facilities. Joanna won the coveted Pony Club Cubitt award at a Lingfield race in 2015 to recognise her voluntary service of over 20 years. The award was presented by the Princess Royal.

When asked about the more recent British Empire Award Joanna said: “It was very unexpected and I had a lot of help from the Committee.”

She will be presented with her award by Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex in the summer of this year and has also been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May.

“The best part of being involved in The Pony Club”, she says, was “getting to know the children and seeing them come up through the branch from a young age,” something which she said gave her huge satisfaction.

The Eridge Branch has produced some big names in competitive riding including European Championships Team GB event rider Francis Whittington from Rotherfield and Silver and Bronze Olympic medallist Pippa Funnel from Wadhurst.

Joanna also volunteers at Hospice in the Weald as an In-Patient Ward Volunteer.