Donations

Wildgoose Rural Training

December 17, 2024By

New classroom supports activities for disadvantaged adults and children

Wildgoose Rural Training provides activities for disabled adults and children who struggle with the normal education system and those facing problems with their mental health.

In 2023, the Trustees of the Axis Foundation awarded the Worcester based charity £10,000 to help build a new classroom.

The new classroom helped Wildgoose to expand its services and benefit a larger number of individuals in the local community and across Worcestershire.

 “Big thanks to Axis for supporting this project which has made a huge difference to our staff and students” –  Karen McConnell, Development Officer

And in 2024, the Foundation made a further award of £5,914 to build a new barn containing two new classrooms and a storage area. The extra classrooms mean an additional 14 students per day can join in the activities on offer.

More about Wild Goose

Wild Goose offers activities like agriculture, woodwork, mechanics, horticulture, animal husbandry, nature reserve management, cookery and a workstream program learning invaluable practical skills.

Through taking part in various activities students advance in the capacity and the skills required to support a more independent lifestyle.

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Donations

Make Them Smile

July 25, 2024By

Specialist equipment for SEN school

Make Them Smile supports children who have a wide range illnesses, some terminal, as well as those who are deaf, blind or underprivileged/ poverty-stricken.

The Axis Foundation donated £4,259 to help Make Them Smile purchase specialist equipment for Priory School, an SEN school for boys and girls with severe learning difficulties and autism.

“Thank you for informing me that the Axis Foundation has awarded Make Them Smile a significant grant for five rocking chairs, sensory equipment, gardening tools, and 10 IPads for Priory School in Upper Norwood. The school was absolutely delighted to hear this.

“Having personally visited Priory and several other SEN schools we’ve assisted, I know firsthand how they teach, and the impact these items will have on the school and its children.

“Once again a great big thank you to all at The Axis Foundation from Priory School, their teachers, 139 pupils, and all at Make Them Smile” –  Robert Adams, Make Them Smile’s Grant Officer

The Foundation’s donation purchased:

  • 5 Zuma BraceRock chairs (which help children to stay alert and pay attention)
  • Sensory equipment (to help children with their visual, auditory, and tactile processing, as well as fine and gross motor skills)
  • Gardening implements (so more pupils can enjoy the school’s outside gardening area)
  • Ipads which be used by the school’s speech and language therapists.

“We are delighted, especially about having the Ipads now, as we desperately need them. It will make a huge difference for the children here. Would you also forward our deepest gratitude to the Axis Foundation for this wonderful gesture?” – Ms Wendt, Occupational Therapist, the Priory School

More about Make Them Smile here

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Donations

The Garden Classroom

July 25, 2024By

Specialist equipment helps SEN kids re-connect with nature

The Garden Classroom (TGC) is a multi-award winning charity dedicated to reconnecting people with nature.

The Axis Foundation donated £2,008 to enable the Islington-based charity to purchase equipment for Hobbs Hill, their site for day trips and multi-night camping. Hobbs Hill (in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) is designed to offer urban children a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in nature.

“Your donation is going to make a huge difference to our facilities on camp, especially for those children with Special Educational Needs. Your support will help us provide inclusive and accessible access to enriching, life-changing experiences for nature-deprived children, with impact extending well beyond their enjoyment of the camp itself.

“Our aim is always to create a deep connection with nature that can resonate throughout the lives of those taking part: and we couldn’t do this without your help – thank you!” – Millie Darling, Director of Countryside Programmes

The Axis Foundation’s donation will benefit over 200 children and their teachers who visit the campsite each year. We enabled the charity to purchase SEN resources for an autistic safe space on the campsite and a 6-person hammock, both of which will help reduce sensory overload and provide a calm, relaxing environment.

The Foundation also provided funds for top-up tools (essential for hands-on activities like bushcraft and den building) and a tarpaulin to safely cover the fire circle and provide shade for eating and cooking.

There’s more about The Garden Classroom here

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Donations

Free to Be Kids

July 25, 2024By

Transformative mental health support via the outdoors

Free to Be Kids transforms the mental health of disadvantaged London children via outdoor experiences including the 5−day residential Thrive Outside project. Here children meet animals at the farm, build dens in the woods, cook together and camp under the stars. Most projects are based at Cudham Environmental Activities Centre in Kent, owned by Free to Be Kids’ charity partner the Woodcraft Folk.

Each year, Free to Be Kids runs 25 such residential breaks supporting around 400 children most of whom have never left their corner of London.

The Axis Foundation was delighted donate £7,993 to pay for the materials for a new storage facility at Cudham. This took the form of a weather-proof, insulated and secure storage shipping container.

“Simply put, without your support, we may not have been able to continue using Cudham. All of our project equipment (bedding, sports, cooking, outdoor activity equipment) had been stacked to the roof in a tiny storeroom which we were no longer able to use.

“We would need to reduce child place numbers by 30% annually, meaning c120 vulnerable children would have no access to transformative mental health support via the outdoors that we offer” – Mike Gee, Free to Be Kids CEO

And our Axis Apprentices install the storage container!

Axis’ apprentices cleared the land and laid the foundations for the shipping container, then weatherproofing it and connecting it to power. They fitted out the inside with shelving and waterproof crates for storage. And they also then fenced it in, to make sure the new storage facility was secure, and put in some attractive planting too.

More about Free to Be Kids

Winners of London Youth’s ‘Adventure Charity of the Year’ (2022) and ‘Outdoor Education’ (2019), Free to Be Kids supports children in Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Bromley who experience multi-factor harm, including parental addiction, neglect, abuse, poverty and homelessness, resulting in significant emotional/behavioral difficulties affecting mental health. There’s more about their work offering transformative mental health support via the outdoors here

And you can read more about the Cudham Centre on the Woodcraft Folk’s website here

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Three little children planting lettucesDonations

The Visionaries 

January 31, 2024By

Creating hands-on outdoor learning space for children

The Visionaries help children, young people and educators to connect with nature. Whilst open to all, they focus on supporting young and marginalised people and those facing challenging transitions. The social enterprise is based at School 360 in Stratford, east London, near to Axis’ head office.

The Axis Foundation agreed to donate £9,500 towards buying raised beds and 50 fruit trees to help with the rewilding of School 360’s outdoor space. The overall scheme will serve as a hands-on, learning space fostering environmental consciousness and creating stronger connections to nature.

“Thank you so much. This will make a huge difference to the project. We are re-imagining the school’s grounds, to enhance the school community’s nature connectedness. This funding will contribute towards the rewilding of the school’s outdoor spaces, creating a dynamic environment that brings people together, improves community well-being, and supports the potential of the students”  – Max Girardeau, Director

More about The Visionaries Education CIC

The Visionaries is a not-for-profit social enterprise. They partner with schools, universities and other educational institutions to produce transformative nature-based programmes and adapt their learning environments to be more ‘nature connected’.  Through participating in their programmes, youths and adults report discovering a greater sense of purpose and belonging, feeling more hopeful and more equipped to create the future we know we need to live sustainably on the planet.

More here

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Donations

Adult Training Network

January 29, 2024By

Resourcing Digital Learning for disadvantaged people

Adult Training Network (ATN) provides education, training and employability skills to disadvantaged people.

The Axis Foundation donated £2,500 so ATN could purchase an interactive whiteboard to facilitate digital learning at their Training Centre in Southall, west London.

“The integration of the smart board in the classroom was very impressive. Not only did the use of this interactive technology keep the students engaged but … learners were evidently more focussed, thanks to the visually appealing content that was presented to them in an engaging way.

“It has changed the traditional lesson and made it more participatory and fun.

“Overall, the interactive white board been very useful, both for tutors and students, who have been very excited about the new method of learning. This innovative approach to teaching has set a high standard for interactive pedagogy” – Sarjeet Singh Gill, Managing Director (from Impact Report provided to the Trustees of the Axis Foundation)

More about ATN

Adult Training Network Limited was founded in 1999 to help the most disadvantaged members of the community access mainstream education. Many are referred to the charity by their local Job Centre.

The charity unlocks marginalised learners’ potential for employment and social connection through education, training, employability support and links to job opportunities. They offer a wide range of in-person and online accredited courses as well as vocational qualifications and apprenticeships.

ATN’s BAME, migrant and refugee learners (many of whom have South-Asian backgrounds and/or are from Syria or Ukraine) hail from highly deprived wards and have low English, literacy and numeracy levels.

There’s more here

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Donations

Chance for a Future for Esmay

December 19, 2023By

Chance for education – and a future – for Esmay

Following young Esmay’s diagnoses of autism, dyslexia and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), and her mother’s application to the Axis Foundation, the Trustees agreed to donate £870 to fund a private Occupational Therapy (OT) referral to progress Esmay’s Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) submission.

The long-term impact of our donation will be Esmay’s successful secondary education providing her with options for a future career.

“We literally can’t thank you enough, it is going to make such an impact for us. Without her EHCP in place, moving to further education will be a difficult transition for Esmay and she will struggle whilst waiting for an OT assessment” – Zarah, Esmay’s mother

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Donations

The Rowdown Inspire to Aspire Foundation

February 20, 2023By

Helping youngster achieve her Judo dreams

The Rowdown Inspire to Aspire Foundation supports children from low-income Croydon families to pursue their dreams.

The Axis Foundation donated £1,500 towards kit and training fees for 12-year-old Lizzy, who had recently been promoted to the England Development Squad for Judo. A further donation in 2024 of £3,000 part-funded Lizzy’s progression through the Squad.

Thanking the Foundation, Gary Coy, Chair of the Rowdown Trustees, said; “Thank you Axis Foundation for helping Lizzie pursue her ambition. Without our help – and your help – Lizzie’s parents may have had to turn this amazing opportunity down.”

Lizzy’s parents said: “Lizzy’s judo has gone from strength to strength in the last year. This is only made possible because of the sponsorship she receives allowing her to compete across the country and benefit from excellent training by the country’s most talented coaches. We are grateful for all the help you offer in this exciting journey for Lizzy.”

Being part of a national development squad at such a young age will give Lizzy real potential to reach Olympic or Commonwealth standard and represent her country in Judo. And she is already off to a flying start! In February 2023 Lizzy entered the High Wycombe Green belts and under championship, fighting in the under 48kg category (a new weight group for her). She won all of her four fights with maximum points to take Gold. Next up is the English Open where she will be competing as the British Silver Medallist.

 

More about Rowdown

Rowdown supports gifted children in New Addington in Croydon by providing funding for 1-2-1 lessons or club membership, equipment and kit; and also for Masterclasses so that groups of children can further their talents in sport, art, drama and dance. They additionally provide a tuition programme for academically able children and offer grants to parents to help with the costs of uniform, school trips and residual fees.
There’s more here

 

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Donations

UK Reads

January 5, 2023By

Our donation helps break illiteracy cycle and gives children a foundation for success.

UK Reads is the World Literacy Foundation’s (WLF) response to the literacy crisis facing children in the UK. Ultimately, the charity aims to put reading in the heart of the home understanding the power of literacy and the impact it can have on life outcomes.

The Axis  Foundation was delighted to donate £3,330 to UK Reads’ Manchester programme specifically helping provide free books to 500 children; 500 literacy resource packs to engage children and parents; two Story Box workshops for ten families plus Story Box resources including books, props and writing material; and their Pen Pals Project which connects children from classrooms across the UK and sub-Saharan Africa via World Literacy Foundation partner schools.

“On behalf of the team at UK Reads, I would like to thank Axis Foundation for their generous contribution to our programme.  The early years of a child’s life can shape their future; the donation will inspire children and their caregivers to prioritise reading, giving them a foundation for success in their education and beyond.  We are incredibly grateful for Axis Foundation’s willingness to champion our cause and for aiding us to continue to break the illiteracy cycle in Manchester’s most disadvantaged families.” – Naomi Nwagboso,Trust and Foundations Manager

More about UK Reads

Before COVID-19, 380,000 children did not own a single book, and 1 in 5 struggled to read or write.  The most recent survey suggested 413,000 UK children now do not own a book. Since launching in November 2020, UK Reads has supported over 37,000 children living in disadvantaged circumstances with free books, bespoke literacy resources, access to a global Pen Pal Project and exciting ‘Story Box’ workshops that engage the whole family.

There’s more here

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two young people reading togetherDonations

Friends of West Wimbledon Trust

July 26, 2022By

We help design library space for reading and storytelling

Friends of West Wimbledon Trust (FOWW) want to create a new, inclusive, child-friendly library space that will inspire a love of reading and storytelling.

When the Friends applied to the Axis Foundation for help, we were delighted to donate £1,000 to the project.

“We can’t thank the Axis Foundation enough for donating £1000 towards our library project. The transformation of the previously outdated space into an inviting, resource-based library for children to read, research and socialise, will be hugely appreciated by the children and staff. Thanks to the Axis Foundation, generous supporters within our school community and running various events, we are thrilled to announce that we have raised enough for the project to go ahead this summer! We can’t wait to share pictures once the new library is finished in September” – Susan Edwards, fundraiser, FOWW

The Axis Foundation’s grant will support the re-design of the library space as well as purchase flexi-bookcases, a picturebook unit, hideyhole seat, picturebook tunnel, reading den and tent as well as comfortable seating and storage areas.

The newly designed space will feature cosy areas for quiet reading, a variety of soft seating and Me-To-You display boards for book recommendations. The furniture will create defined fiction, non-fiction, and picture book areas. The shelving and the furniture ensure books face out to encourage children to choose books independently and so broaden their reading choices.

Diverse users of West Wimbledon Primary School’s (WWPS) library space include children with autism. Within the Autism Base at the school, the pupils all have specific needs: the new contemplative and calm environment will specifically help them to engage with their reading.

More about FOWW

FOWW is a charity run by the parents and supported by the teachers, staff and governors of West Wimbledon Primary School in the London Borough of Merton.  More here

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