Welcome to Axis Foundation, the charitable arm of Axis.

Yearly Archives: 2016

Heltwate School

April 23, 2016By Axis Foundation

Helping students with learning disabilities gain life skills

The Axis Foundation donated £200 to Heltwate School to assist them in organising a school trip to for their students: all have severe special educational needs and some are on the Autism spectrum. The children spent a week away on the Norfolk Coastline. They stayed in two youth hostels and visited destinations and attractions around Norfolk. Far more than a sight-seeing exercise, this school trip enabled students with learning disabilities firstly to live a little more independently, and also taught them some basic skills such as meal preparation and tidying, cleaning and bed making. For some it was the first time, or the longest time, that any of them had spent away from home.

Our donation made the trip even more special: it paid for the students to take part in a boat cruise – on which some thoroughly enjoyed steered the boat; and we also contributed to a day trip to the North Norfolk Railway which was a real treat as many of the children love transport.

“We were blown away to receive such a generous donation from the Axis Foundation. I cannot put into words the difference it made to our trip. They enjoyed themselves immensely and the growth in confidence and self esteem during the week away was evident” – Kim Granger, teacher

Demelza

We Win Special Supporter Award and donate £32,000 to Demelza

April 13, 2016By Axis Foundation

Axis Foundation wins Demelza’s Special Award: Outstanding Long-Term Supporter 2016

The Axis Foundation has presented a cheque for £32,000 to Demelza Hospice Care for Children to assist them in continuing to care for children with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses. The money was raised through an annual charity ball, corporate donations and the fundraising efforts of Axis people across our offices who are firmly committed to supporting Demelza.

At the same time, Axis was honoured to receive the Outstanding Long Term Supporter at the recent Demelza Awards, which were set up to reward companies for supporting Demelza.
And indeed it is a long term relationship: over £500,000 has been given to the children’s charity through Axis and the Axis Foundation since Axis was in its infancy.

Ryan Campbell, Demelza CEO, said: “We continue to be so touched by the incredible support Axis has shown Demelza over the years. I have been honoured to meet some of the staff there and thank them personally for their tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the children and families we care for. Presenting you with the Outstanding Long-Term Supporter award at the Demelza Business Awards was a chance for us to acknowledge this amazing support, both from the company as a whole, and from the many individual staff members who fundraise on our behalf.”

Donations

London Philharmonic Orchestra

April 6, 2016By Axis Foundation

London orchestra continues to display their talent and passion for singing through our donation to their Sound Journey programme for pupils with special educational needs.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1932, is one of five permanent symphony based orchestras in London.
Not only are they renowned for their passion for music, they also have a passion and drive to give back to their community, which is why the Axis Foundation is delighted to have donated £1,500 to their Sound Journeys programme.

Sound Journeys is a dedicated and tailored programme for children with special educational needs in South London. They work with different centres and schools in the area, previously working with Aurora House, a centre for primary aged children with autism in Lambeth, and with the Deaf Support Centre at Thomas Tallis School, a mainstream secondary school in the borough of Royal Greenwich.

Workshops are run throughout the programme in which they learned about different instruments, increased their musical awareness and developed communication and social skills. Teachers were able to access Continued Professional Development sessions which provided the skills and confidence needed to continue working with music for future classes.

“We were absolutely delighted to receive the donation from the Axis Foundation. The money has helped us to bring music into the lives of children with disabilities ranging from severe autism to profound deafness, and to give class teachers the skills and confidence to continue including music in their classrooms for years to come. The grant has made a lasting difference to the lives of both the children and their schools,” Clare Lovett, Education Director (Maternity Director).

28 pupils, three class teachers and seven teaching assistants participated directly in the project, but more pupils will benefit from the new skills and confidence which the teachers and teaching assistants have developed.

Donations

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary

April 5, 2016By Axis Foundation

Braille boards for visually-impaired visitors increase accessibility of local community educational centre.

The Axis Foundation donated £1,000 to The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. This donation funded 50 Braille boards for visually-impaired visitors to make the centre more accessible and sensory friendly.

The sanctuary needed the new Braille boards as they were receiving increasing number of visually-impaired visitors. The boards will sit next to the written information boards, catering for all those who come to the centre.

The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is a registered charity and comprehensive facility for the care and rehabilitation of Owls.

Working within the local community, the sanctuary also supports physically and sensorily-disabled children and young adults. They work closely with schools in East Anglia where they often give free talks to pupils. This is a very rural area: there is no other facility that caters for disability play or education within a fifty-mile radius.

Thanking the Foundation, Marie Robinson who runs the sanctuary said:

“We are thrilled to bits that such a reputable company is supporting us in this new and very exciting venture which will not only benefit people in our local community but also on a much wider scale. Without the help from companies such as Axis none of this additional work could take place.”

Care

Heart of Kent Hospice

February 29, 2016By Axis Foundation

Specialist beds and chairs offer comfort and safety to those approaching end of life.

Heart of Kent Hospice cares for those who are reaching the end of life. It opened in 1991 after dedicated local people raised funds to build a hospice for residents of Maidstone, Tonbridge, Malling and surrounding village areas.

The Axis Foundation has made donations which have bought specialist beds and chairs to give comfort and support to the 800+ patients who use the Hospice each year.

In 2016 the Foundation awarded a donation of £12,243 to buy specialist beds for the In-Patient Care unit here.

Vicki Morrey, Heart of Kent Hospice’s Chief Executive, told the Foundation: “Your wonderful contribution has made a real difference to the patients and their families who receive our care at the hospice.

“Each of our ten bedrooms now has a new Enterprise 8000 bed. Our patient Alan said: ‘It’s very comfortable… it’s great to be able to adjust the controls myself.’ The nursing staff have also responded very positively to the new beds because they have helped improved the care they can offer.

“The controls are easy to operate by both patients and staff and the transition between positions is comfortable.

“The beds will enable us to care for over 220 patients every year and we anticipate they will continue to meet the needs of our patients for at least five years.”

Earlier donation

In 2015 the Axis Foundation awarded £3,788 to Heart of Kent Hospice to buy new supporting chairs for their Garden Room. This is a calm and comfortable place where patients and visitors relax looking at the peaceful Hospice garden. However, it had not been updated for some years and the furniture was broken and worn.

“Heart of Kent Hospice is delighted to have been able to purchase new chairs in our Garden Room. Our patients can now benefit from the highest levels of comfort and safety with these beautifully designed chairs.

“Our Garden Room is a lovely quiet space away from the noise and bustle of the rest of the Hospice and is appreciated by all our visitors who use it for spiritual reflection, reading or just some quite time alone or with loved ones.

“We are deeply grateful to the Axis Foundation for making this possible and we offer you a huge thank you.” Sarah Pugh, Chief Executive of Heart of Kent Hospice.

Man holding donation cheque for Singing group

Community

Advocacy in Greenwich

February 4, 2016By Axis Foundation

Axis Foundation funds music therapy for adults with learning disabilities.

Advocacy in Greenwich is a support group for people with learning disabilities in the London Borough of Greenwich. Their Sing & Smile Group enables adults with learning disabilities to share their love of music with each other in a friendly and inclusive environment. During their weekly sessions, overseen by a support worker, members choose songs to perform together. Sometimes, people perform solos when they are feeling brave enough.

The Axis Foundation donated £900 to the Sing & Smile Group, helping to cover their running costs.

Sing & Smile was set up by Advocacy in Greenwich in 2014 in response to a nearby community music group shutting down. It is important to its members because it provides with them with a creative outlet, a way of making friends and it feeds their love of singing and performing.

“Thank you very much for the £900 you sent us for our singing group. We are very pleased you chose to give us some money and we are over the moon that the group can carry on. We really enjoy getting together each week and singing makes us feel happy.” Ian Harvey, member of Sing & Smile

Advocacy in Greenwich’s wider mission as a charity is to encourage people with learning disabilities to be heard and included within the community. As a result, they offer far more than just music therapy for adults with learning disabilities. They also provide youth workshops, Training & Consultancy, BME projects and support for parents with a learning disability.