Child abseiling on residential trip with Purley Youth ProjectDonations

Purley Youth Project

Activity trips for disadvantaged children

Purley Youth Project is a community kids club for children aged 7-12, many of whom are underprivileged or disabled. The club supports over 100 children on a weekly basis, helping them to develop their social and personal skills through programmes that are fun and challenging.

The youth project regularly organises exciting residential trips, treating disadvantaged children to activities such as rock climbing, assault courses, nature trails and more. For some children, these trips are their only opportunity to experience somewhere outside of the area in which they live. Therefore, the excursions broaden their horizons and help them to become more balanced individuals. More importantly, they provide lots of fun!

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £2,000 paid for 40 children to be taken on a three-day residential trip to Kingswood Activity Centre in Ashford. Children benefitted from a rewarding educational programme and took part in thrilling outdoor activities such as zip-wiring and archery.

“I’d like to thank the Axis Foundation, who enabled this residential trip to take place. As well as a great experience for the children, they learnt important lessons in team work and made new friends. They literally haven’t stopped talking about their trip”  – David Garfield, Junior Team Leader 

Previous Donations

Over the years, the Axis Foundation has donated a total of £3,863 towards three residential trips for Purley Youth Project. This has benefitted over 100 disadvantaged children. On top of the trip to Kingswood Centre, we contributed towards two group excursions to Downe Activity Centre in Kent.

Nine-year-old Matthew sent a letter of thanks to the Foundation: “I was so lucky to go to Downe Activity Centre; I had the best time I’ve ever had. Thank you, Axis.”

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Man teaching life skills to disadvantaged children at Sport 4 LifeDonations

Sport 4 Life

Tackling youth unemployment

Sport 4 Life is a charity that helps people aged 12 to 29 to build better futures through their sports-themed personal development programmes. They aim to tackle youth unemployment at the source by providing mentoring, structured sports sessions and accredited training to marginalised young people.

Their ‘Be Positive’ programme targets 13 to 25-year olds who have struggled at school, endured difficult home lives, or developed behavioural issues. It helps them to build confidence, develop life skills and gain qualifications through structured educational and development activities.

The Axis Foundation has donated £2,000 towards the ‘Be Positive’ programme, directly benefitting the 90 disadvantaged young males who are enrolled on the course. Furthermore, the wider community will benefit from increased youth engagement and subsequent reductions in crime and anti-social behaviour.

Educational workshops at Sports 4 Life focus on key inner-city issues such as alcohol, drugs, sexual health and knife crime. They are designed to improve the behaviour, attitudes, and self-esteem of the youngsters involved. The Axis Foundation’s donation will also purchase much needed educational resources which the charity previously had no funding for.

“Sport 4 Life are incredibly grateful for the generous donation received from the Axis Foundation. This financial support will enable us to provide sports-themed educational programmes to some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, and to support them to gain qualifications, transform their behaviour, and ultimately build themselves a better future. We look forward to using the donation to further our charitable work and help disadvantaged young people” – James Forrest, Manager 

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Children playing with carers from the London Centre for Children with Cerebral PalsyDonations

LCCCP

Helping children with Cerebral Palsy

The London Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy is the only government-approved centre and school in London for children with cerebral palsy. They support children from birth to 11 years old, as well as their families and professionals who work with them.

Cerebral palsy affects about 1 in 400 children and the lives of an estimated 50,000 people in the London region alone. Typically this condition results in movement disorders, but many sufferers also have significant learning disabilities, limited communication skills and additional disabilities such as epilepsy, hearing and visual impairment.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of  £3,500 is supporting the specialist education programme called Conductive Education. Our donation will provide sensory equipment to the Parent and Child groups run at the centre in Muswell Hill, North London. This style of learning helps teach children to develop their capabilities, however limited, so they can be as independent as possible. The children are taught using language built around physical tasks, sensory equipment and songs which reinforce tasks.

 “The educational items purchased by The Axis Foundation are enhancing the curriculum and enabling pupils to maximise the skills they learn in Conductive Education. As a result, pupils have improved their communication skills and ability to learn. Each child has also developed and improved their physical skills and overall cognitive functions, which is reducing their need for care and assistance with everyday activities.

“Items purchased included three multi-sensory story books, switch-adapted toys (Cassy the singing bear), curriculum resources for science (jumbo magnifiers), skeletons, colour-changing pebbles, story cushions, a classroom tidy and a Nintendo Wii. Children are benefiting greatly from their new educational resources because it allows them to understand topics in science, literacy and PHSE (personal, social and health education) lessons.

“We are very grateful for the help from The Axis Foundation” – Anna Salamonowicz, Head of Fundraising 

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Two children rock climbing at school trip with Quest Specialist SchoolDonations

Quest Specialist School

Minibus mobility for Autistic students

Quest Specialist School takes pupils age age 5-19 years across the autistic spectrum. The school helps students to develop appropriate behaviour, communication and functional life skills, which will assist them to lead independent lives in the future.

£20,000 from the Axis donation has covered the cost of a brand new minibus for the school so that they can take students on school trips. Out-of-school visits allow pupils to practice practical skills in the real world, such as using shops, cafes and libraries as independently as possible. In addition, the minibus transports students to sporting activities such as physiotherapy classes, swimming and trampolining.

“The work being done by the Quest School is truly inspirational and is providing disadvantaged young people with genuine life changing opportunities. We hope that by donating this minibus the Axis Foundation will help the students at the school to further develop through expanded community activities” – Axis Foundation Chairman Peter Varney

The severity of Autism suffered by children at the Quest School means they require one on one care by qualified staff. Many have been excluded from attending mainstream special schools so would otherwise have very little exposure to activities where they can interact with other children. Now that they have a more reliable minibus, the specialist school can take students to more exciting and far-flung destinations!

“Before Axis Foundation so kindly helped us, we were struggling with an old, unreliable and costly minibus. The donation of a brand new bus has enabled us to undertake journeys with much more confidence, and we are now able to travel longer distances than previously. Recently, our pupils have experienced trips to London museums, the South coast to the Sea Life centre and trips that we would never have dared to attempt in the old bus. The pupils absolutely love the space, comfort and the opportunities that the bus has bought them. Thank you to everyone at Axis Foundation for making this possible” – Ashley Carter-Mepsted, Development Manager

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Children with austism and learning disabilities at Tae Kwando club at Woodside SchoolDonations

Woodside School

Help for children with autism and learning difficulties

Woodside School in Bexley supports 215 children with Autism and learning difficulties. A donation of £2,700 from the Axis Foundation has enabled the school to launch two new extra-curricular clubs; an art club and a Tae Kwando club. Both after-school activities will provide an outlet for children to express their energy and creativity and encourage them to build new friendships with their peers.

The school approached the Axis Foundation after their Government funding was cancelled, removing their ability to provide engaging extracurricular activities.

“In addition to the challenges our pupils face with their disabilities, most come from families deemed as financially disadvantaged, which adds additional barriers to them accessing activities outside of school.” Audrey Chamberlain Head Teacher, Woodside School

Both clubs have enjoyed excellent attendance and feedback from the school is that the classes have been well received by the children, and the students who attend regularly have shown improvement in behaviour.

“Both the Art and Tae Kwando after school clubs have now started and the children are enthusiastic and very keen to take part. We used the donation given by the Axis Foundation to buy IT equipment for the art club and safety equipment for the Tae Kwando club which has helped massively.The children are very much enjoying the two new clubs and we couldn’t have done this without the help of The Axis Foundation. Thank you from everyone at Woodside School.” Audrey Chamberlain

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Volunteers help to build sensory garden for Corbets Tey SchoolDonations

Corbets Tey School

Sensory garden for children with complex learning needs

Corbets Tey School is a school for children and young people aged 4 to 19 with Complex Learning Needs. There are 155 students at Corbets Tey, all with special educational needs including communication and interaction difficulties, sensory and physical needs and autism.

Children here will benefit from a sensory garden funded by Swan Housing and The Axis Foundation. The materials for the project were joint-funded by a donation of £5,000 from the Axis Foundation and Swan Housing Group. The sensory garden has several beds and paths, all providing different sensory experiences. As the pupils move through the garden, they will experience a range of sights, sounds, smells and feelings.

“This a wonderful project and we are indebted to everyone who took part. The sensory garden will offer a significant improvement to the school’s facilities. The children will benefit from having a wonderful new environment to develop in a multitude of ways. Our children will love using the garden to work and collectively experience sensory enrichment” – Mr Colin Arthey, Corbets Tey School Headteacher

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