MILLENDON resident Jenny Hale has won the HorsePower Hills outstanding volunteer award after 33 years of selfless service.

Mrs Hale, 70, was presented with the Ron Wilson perpetual trophy on December 9, in recognition of the three decades of hands-on volunteering for the charities hippotherapy program.

She has also served as honorary secretary for HorsePower Australia and is a Life Member of that association.   

Mrs Hale said she has always wanted to help others and that she found winning the award for outstanding volunteer quite touching.

“I was very humbled, because there are a lot of other people there who I feel do just as much as I do but they picked me out this year,” she said.

“It’s very special because there are people who I really admire, people who have put a lot of their life into it, choosing me.”

Since 1978, HorsePower Hills, formally Riding for the Disabled, provides a variety of programs including riding, hippotherapy and dressage to people with physical intellectual, emotional and social challenges.

“I get pleasure watching these young children growing and developing and knowing I’ve played a small part in it,” she said.

Mrs Hale was presented the award by HorsePower Hills vice president Rebekah Millard, the granddaughter of the awards namesake, and who has been riding with the organisation since she was six years old. In fact, on Ms Millard’s very first day at HorsePower Hills it was Mrs Hale who was her volunteer.

In addition to the service Mrs Hale has done for HorsePower Hills over the years, for the past 22 years she has also volunteered for Telethon Community Cinemas (TCC), formally Movies by Burswood.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at TCC, but that ultimately helps HorsePower Hills. Without those funds, HorsePower would find it very very difficult,” she said.

TCC screens outdoor movies during the warmer months at four metro venues, including Bassendean, staffed entirely by volunteers. The purpose is to raise funds from cinema patrons to benefit children with health and well-being challenges. These funds are distributed to five childrens’ charities, including HorsePower Hills.