Specialist mattress helps patients in palliative care
In 2014, the Axis Foundation’s donation of £3,800 purchased a specialist mattress to help patients in palliative care at St Luke’s Hospice in Essex.
St Luke’s Hospice provides specialist medical, nursing, social and psychological care to people suffering with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses such as advanced cancer, heart failure and multiple sclerosis.
Patients here spend prolonged periods of time sitting and lying down due to the nature of their severe illnesses. Our mattress, of a unique construction combining air with a soft foam surface designed specifically to alleviate pressure, was particularly beneficial.
As the Hospice relies on donations for over 75% of the funding needed to continue their work, Allison Jones, the Hospice’s Funding Officer was delighted with our donation:
“Without the generosity of organisations like the Axis Foundation, we could not provide care service to the people suffering from these terrible illnesses or support the families who suffer along with them. It’s vital for our community that Hospice’s services are available for those in need; the organisations and individuals that fund us demonstrate our value to the community.”
St Luke’s is a registered charity serving the Basildon and Thurrock districts providing patients and their families with vital care services at no financial cost.
Home visits to families caring for a life-limited child
Shooting Star Chase‘s ‘Hospice at Home’ scheme brings care to children approaching the end of their life in their own homes. The sick children are in familiar surroundings, with their family and their own home comforts. The service brings the same medical, nursing and therapeutic care as the hospices offer. The scheme gives families the chance to relax a little and do chores around the house or even go out, knowing that their child is in the best care.
To support this vital service, the Axis Foundation donated a total of £2,508 (£1,140 in 2013, £1,368 in 2014) which funded over 20 home visits to families caring for a life-limited child.
“We now have one of the largest Hospice at Home teams in the country. We recorded an average of 250 home visits to families caring for a life-limited child per month. Yet, this is only made possible through the wonderful support from organisations like the Axis Foundation. Thank you.” – Brian Gallagher, Shooting Star Chase
“Care is constantly changing and we need to be flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the families we support. The Hospice at Home team plays a vital role allowing parents to be Mum and Dad, not just care givers. We’ll continue to develop the service so that the children and families we support can have the care they so desperately need in the location of their choice. We are very grateful for the donation from The Axis Foundation” – Elaine Conisbee, Interim Director of Care
What the families say
“When things become too much, and you really can’t see a way out of the dark hole you are in, the hospice proves that someone else really does care.”
“The Hospice at Home service is amazing. I feel like I’ve been on a mini-holiday, recharging my batteries and putting me in very good spirits.”
More About Shooting Star Chase
Shooting Star Children’s Hospice and CHASE Hospice for Children merged together to form Shooting Star Chase and to care for over 600 families living all across western London, Surrey and West Sussex who have a child or teenager not expected to reach their nineteenth birthday.
Powerful partnerships helps children in deprived areas
The Axis Foundation has donated £85,000 towards Charlton Athletic Community Trust over four years, helping to provide opportunities for young people in deprived communities. The Axis Foundation and Charlton Athletic Community Trust’s (CACT) partnership began in 2010 and collaborated to support thousands of young people over four years.
More About CACT
CACT is a community programme led by Charlton Athletic Football Club that engages with thousands of people across London and Kent. The trust delivers a football development programme for young people from toddlers to aspiring professionals. On top of this, they support those who are disadvantaged with health improvement, employment, crime prevention and educational programmes.
“The achievements of the Trust and their staff are outstanding, they’ve chosen a sport that breaks down barriers and applied their skills and experience to the maximum benefit of the deprived and those in need of help.” John Hayes, Founder of the Axis Foundation.
Close Connections
The Axis Foundation has always had a close connection with Charlton Athletic. The foundation’s founder, John Hayes, is a Charlton fan, and Alan Curbishley, a Charlton legend, is the foundation’s patron. In 2011, the Axis Foundation became a patron of the Charlton Challenge Award Scheme and CACT’s estate-based coaching sessions. Over four years, we donated a total of £85,000 to the trust, helping them to support some of the most deprived communities in South East London and Kent.
“John and the Axis Foundation has been a long-standing supporter of the Trust. He has been involved with the estate-based sessions and the Charlton Challenge for the past five years; becoming a Patron of these strands cements his support and belief in the Trust’s work.” Jason Morgan,Chief Executive of the Charlton Trust.
The Charlton Challenge
The Charlton Challenge is a scheme, led by FA qualified coaches, that aims to develop children’s core football skills. The course is delivered in sports centres across five London boroughs and is attended by over 1,000 boys and girls every week, many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Estate Based Coaching
The Axis Foundation was the sole sponsor and patron of CACT’s Estate Based Coaching. The social inclusion programme runs a variety of sporting activities in deprived communities to 2,000 children every week. This includes leagues and coaching sessions in: football, basketball, dance, self-defence, boxing and fishing. The scheme provides a pathway for youngsters, such as 21-year-old Jonathan, to pursue their ambitions. CACT’s mentorship helped him to gain his first FA Football Coaching qualification:
“The FA Level 1 has helped me with my confidence to teach others what I have learnt. It was a very good experience and a challenge to teach people with different abilities. I just want to thank the Charlton Athletic Community Trust and the Axis Foundation for giving me such a great opportunity to pursue coaching.” Jonathan Peters, Beneficiary of Charlton Athletic Community Trust
Trinity Hospice supports people through end of life care, with their main aim to help patients ‘live every moment.’ The charity provides both in-patient and home care to people with a range of conditions, from cancer to neurological illnesses, as well as respite and education services to their families.
The Hospice is majority funded by charitable donations, such as the £5,250 from the Axis Foundation which was used to purchase 10 pressure relieving mattress for the in-patient centre.
“Providing care for members of our community is at the heart of the Axis Foundation’s objectives. We see Trinity’s specialist services as vital to improving the quality of life for sufferers and helping them through the medical choices and stages for their illness”- Mick Hayes, Axis Foundation Trustee
“Many patients are admitted to us in the later stages of their condition and are confined to bed with limited mobility. The mattresses specially designed to support end of life care are an essential piece of equipment, able to prevent painful and uncomfortable symptoms, they minimise the risk of pressure build-ups and create a massaging effect that promotes sleeping patterns. The purchase of 10 new mattresses will benefit hundreds of patients over the coming years” – Zahra Khan, Trinity Hospice
Capital FM DJ and Demelza Ambassador Dave Berry accepts a cheque for £48,000 for Demelza from the Axis Foundation.
“This is a phenomenal amount to have raised and will provide invaluable support to the children and families Demelza looks after. Axis clearly has some extremely committed and generous people working within it, and it is to them I would like to express my deepest thanks,” he said.
We presented the cheque to Dave at a ceremony at Demelza’s offices in Sittingbourne in 2013. As he is local to where our charity partner Demelza lives and works, including the Eltham hospice, Dave has seen first hand much of Demelza’s precious work with sick children and their familes. He and fellow patrons – including Daniel Radcliffe, Jayne Torville and Gary Lineker – are as committed as we are to supporting Demelza.
Berry is also involved in other local charities also supported by the Axis Foundation including the Charlton Athletic Trust where he supports the new youth services programme.
This donation, like all our donations from the Axis Foundation, will go towards Demelza’s fantastic ‘Adopt a Nurse’ project. The nurses work with both the children and families to provide the care and support at a time they need it the most.
£4,000 from the Axis Foundation purchased east London’s St Joseph’s Hospice a Flowtron Hydroven 12. This is a specialist machine for Lymphoedema sufferers to relieve the pain and swelling that are common with this condition.
“Receiving funding from the Axis Foundation is brilliant news and our patients will definitely benefit from this donation. Lymphoedema can be extremely disfiguring and health services are specialist and scarce so very often people miss out on getting treatment that can help. The Hydroven 12 machine will offer treatment to those people that would otherwise not be able to access or tolerate other lymphoedema treatments. It will enable people to have treatment in their own home and continue to work and live a normal life, which is vital to people who have a life-limiting condition. We are extremely grateful to all those involved” – Kim Barlow, Specialist Palliative Physiotherapist and Lymphoedema Practitioner
What is Lymphoedema?
Lymphoedema is a long-term (chronic) condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissues. It can affect any part of the body, but usually develops in the arms or legs. It develops when the lymphatic system doesn’t work properly.
How The Flowtron Hydroven 12 works
The Flowtron Hydroven 12 machine has an arm and leg sleeve, which inflates and deflates to massage the lymph channels and glands, encouraging drainage of fluid out of an enlarged limb. The machine mimics the practitioner’s lymphatic drainage hand massage technique
Benefits for sufferers
Flowtron Hydroven 12 sessions are shorter than those with a clinical practitioner
Sufferers can experience a beneficial 10- -day course of treatment at home without having to take time off work/interrupt their lives
The Axis Foundation has donated £3,405 to St Clare Hospice in Essex to purchase two McKinley T34 Syringe Drivers. These important specialist pieces of clinical equipment provide Hospice patients with pain relief at home. And, with greater control over their own pain management, patients requires less intervention from a nurse so they can lead more independent lives.
St Clare’s Director of Patient Care, Louise Cameron, explains how they work: “The Syringe Driver is a small battery-powered pump that delivers medication from a syringe through a soft plastic tube placed under the skin. These small pumps provide continuous prescribed doses of medication to alleviate symptoms such as pain and nausea, sickness and fitting. Syringe drivers also ensure that patients do not have to undergo repeated painful injections or take medicine when they have trouble swallowing.”
Louise added her thanks: “Syringe drivers are crucial for our patient care services. We are grateful to the Axis Foundation for enabling the Hospice to buy these vital pieces of clinical equipment.”
More About St Clare Hospice
St Clare Hospice provides specialist care for people living with life-limiting illnesses in the west Essex and east Hertfordshire border area. The charity cares for patients and their families, providing physical, social, psychological and spiritual support. St Clare Hospice’s annual running costs total £2.8m, 70 per cent of which comes from voluntary income.
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
St John’s Hospice provides specialist palliative care services to over 2,000 people each year suffering from life-limiting illnesses or long-term conditions. The Axis Foundation donated £4,470 to the hospice, buying three patient chairs to help patients to sit and stand, as well as aiding nurses with bed transfers and hoisting.
Before we made our donation, the chairs at the hospice were low in number and of poor quality. Our new chairs will facilitate simple tasks such as sitting and standing. They also provide extra support for those who are unable to maintain their body posture. The chairs provide more than just physical support to patients with limited mobility; it helps them to build up their confidence, self-esteem and independence again.
‘I was delighted to hear the wonderful news of support from the Axis Foundation. I cannot thank the Foundation enough for this generous grant of £4,470 for new specialist patient chairs for use on our Inpatient Unit. Upgrading patient seating will allow us to meet the increasingly specialised needs of patients and maintain our high standards of care.’ Steve Barnes, Hospice Director
Previous Support from the Axis Foundation
In 2014, the Axis Foundation donated £2,000 to the hospice. This enabled them to purchase specialist laser equipment that helps patients with limited mobility due to painful swelling and heaviness in their limbs. The laser reduces patients’ pain and discomfort through its ability to soften tissue and reduce limb swelling. It can also improve scar tissue (post mastectomy), increase the time it takes to heal wounds and boosts the immune system. The laser specifically helps those suffering from upper and lower limb Lymphoedema. Without adequate treatment, lymphoedema can have major effects, including long-term disability, difficulties with work and emotional problems.
“We are very grateful for voluntary grants and donations like this from The Axis Foundation which enables us to provide a much-loved service to vulnerable people with life-limiting illnesses” – Laura Marazzi, Trust Fundraising Manager
More About St John’s Hospice
The hospice, based in Central London, is the largest palliative care provider in Westminster and cares for people suffering from cancer, HIV, motor neurone disease and other terminal illnesses. People in their care need support with a wide range of symptoms including acute pain, severe mobility problems, anxiety, breathlessness and weight loss. This includes patients with advanced neurological conditions such as Motor Neurone Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and brain tumours.
A Message from St John’s Hospice on our 10th Birthday
For our 10th Birthday, St John’s Hospice had a message of thanks for the Axis family:
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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