Little girl and sister lying on rug togetherDisability

New Garden for Little Isabella

July 26, 2022By

Foundation makes garden accessible for Little Isabella

Little Isabella was diagnosed with a severe brain malformation when she was just three months old.Axis Resident Liaison Manager Cathy Weedon, who asked the Axis Foundation for help told us:

“Isabella loves to feel the wind blowing, it’s one of the things that makes her smile the biggest. For her to simply enjoy the sunshine in a lovely finished garden would be a miracle.”

And we were delighted to support Cathy’s application to remodel the family garden so that Isabella can enjoy her outside space. The Axis Foundation and supply chain partner City Plumbing Community Fund donated £6,550 to remodel Isabella’s family garden. Axis people in our Sittingbourne office will use their volunteering days to do the work.

Isabella’s story

Isabella was born in November 2013. Her family noticed soon after that she never cried or expressed emotions. They were deeply concerned despite being reassured by doctors that she was just a ‘good baby’. After suffering seizures, and in obvious pain, Isabella went to  Evelina Children’s Hospital for tests and urgent medical care.

Here she was diagnosed with a severe brain malformation called ‘subcortical band heteretopia’ which meant that she would not progress beyond her baby years. Her physical disabilities would be life-altering.

The family moved to a new home to accommodate caring for Isabella. They proceeded to make adaptations including levelling downstairs floors and the garden, adding a small extension and making all the rooms wheelchair accessible. And as Isabella grew and became heavier. they moved to a bungalow. But Isabella needed hoists, an adapted bath and bed, wider doorways and a ramp up to the front door to list just a few adaptations.

Local authority grants would not cover the entire costs and shortage of labour and COVID-19 meant severe delays and rises in costs. Isabella’s Nanna even sold her own home to fund the work.

Their main wish was that Isabella would be able to enjoy the garden  But the garden space and driveway were tiered and unsuitable for manoeuvring Isabella’s wheelchair. We are especially delighted that our donation will help Isabella enjoy her outside space which our volunteers will create.

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News

£2m Donated!

July 11, 2022By

In July 2022 we reached an extraordinary landmark. Our donations hit the £2m mark. That’s £2m donated to 270 small, local and impactful causes in 13 years of giving.

“The £2m moment” – our cheque to Demelza for £89,000 took us over the £2m mark!

We presented the cheque to Demelza’s patron, media presenter and Strictly judge, Len Goodman, at our 4th Axis Foundation Charity Golf Day.

Accepting the cheque for our charity partner Demelza, Len said: ‘The Axis Foundation is a fantastic charity. You get Ten from Len!’

Our host at the Foundation Celebrity Golf Day was our own Axis Foundation Patron, sports pundit and former football manager Alan Curbishley. Our guests included our generous suppliers, clients and subcontractors. Former football stars Teddy Sheringham, ex-England, Spurs and Manchester United player, and Scott Minto, former Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and West Ham star and football pundit who is also a long-term supporter of Demelza Hospice, were among the golfers who took part in the celebrity 4-ball challenge.

Lavinia Jarrett, Chief Executive at Demelza, said: “A huge thank you to the team at the Axis Foundation for their on-going support. Over the years, they have taken part in sky dives, abseils, running challenges, have hosted balls and golf days, as well as volunteering at our hospices – they are an incredible group of people and their support means so much to the families we work with.”

Peter Varney, our Chairman of our Trustees added: ““The Trustees of the Axis Foundation and I were delighted to present our cheque for £89,000 to our friend and partner Demelza, particularly as this donation was a special landmark for us, taking our total donations to £2m.”

13 years of giving

Our 13-year history of donating has helped people with disability, disease and life-limiting illnesses; those who are experiencing poverty, depression, deprivation and addiction; the lonely and the disadvantaged; parents, carers, the elderly, babies and the very young. Each one of these donations is intended to create a positive lasting difference: a hand up, rather than a hand out.

Help us make another million in donations by applying to the Foundation here

Special thanks to all our supporters – suppliers, subcontractors and clients as well as our own Axis people: your generosity helped the Foundation reach this amazing £2m milestone.

Left to right in our photo: Peter Varney, Chairman, Axis Foundation; Len Goodman, Demelza Patron; Alan Curbishley, Axis Foundation Patron

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Sea Change little children playing on check rugCare

Sea Change Trust

July 8, 2022By

We support Early Years’ Project

The Sea Change Trust offers psychological support to infants, children, young people and their parents and carers, regardless of financial means, background or status.

The Axis Foundation has donated £3,000 towards the cost of purchasing items for their Early Years’ Project including: an additional bell tent and porch, a heater, camping chairs, arts and crafts materials, toys and sensory equipment, a ball pit, windbreakers, blankets, cushions and beanbags, banners, and a tablet to record feedback.

‘We’d like to thank the Axis foundation for their kind donation to our Early Years Project for equipment and very importantly, a new Bell Tent! At a time when services for young families are diminishing and cuts in public transport make accessing support more and more difficult in our rural county, we are delighted that this will help us take our drop-in sessions to more communities. Numbers at the drop-ins are growing and being able to buy a bigger tent will help us all be well ventilated and covid-safe while spending time together. Many, many thanks from all our therapists, parents, and babies’ –  Tess Bailey-Sayer, CEO, The Sea Change Trust.

More About Sea Change Trust

Based in Shropshire, The Sea Change Trust comprises a team of child specialists, experienced in the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services across the West Midlands and in other settings. They particularly want to address and redress the absence of specialist services in rural areas. The charity offers group and one to one support addressing loneliness and bereavement, anxiety and emotional and mental ill-health. Their careful referral process works in partnership with other charities and service providers. They work with young refugees and asylum seekers, with new parents and those with young children and with schools and other partner organisations, to support children, young people, parents, and teachers.

The Early Years Project provides safe and non-judgmental drop-in sessions run by qualified therapists, where pre-school children, parents and carers can share their experiences. The Sea Change Trust intends to deliver more sessions and support more families, particularly focusing on areas of social deprivation and rural isolation.

More about their work here

 

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Demelza

Precious Partnership with Demelza

July 8, 2022By

The Axis Foundation is proud of our precious partnership with Demelza Hospice for Sick Children. In our 13-year history, the Foundation has donated £707,000 to Demelza.

Our donation of £6,000 to Demelza was one of our Foundation’s very first donations. And when our Foundation’s donations reached an impressive total of £2m (July 2022) we were delighted to present Demelza with a cheque for £89,000 which marked our £2m Moment.

Like all good friends… we share some history

Our friendship with Demelza goes back nearly 20 years – all the way to 2004. We had formed a charity partnership even before the Foundation was born.

  • Our parent company Axis supported Demelza’s Bricks and Water appeal creating a Hydrotherapy Centre and two new bedrooms for teenage patients meanwhile refurbishing two existing bedrooms at their Sittingbourne hospice, Kent
  • Axis also contributed to building a new hospice in Eltham in south east London. Olympic champions and Demelza vice presidents Jayne Torvill and Robin Cousins opened the new premises in 2009. Celebrating the first anniversary of the Eltham hospice in 2010, our people joined Demelza supporters, nurses, children and their families at the ‘polka dot tea party’.

Like all good friends, we share some major triumphs

And yes, like all good friends we share great sadness too

When Liam and Amy Hayes’ son Benjamin Jeffrey John Hayes was born in 2019 and suffered brain damage during birth, the family took Benjamin to Demelza where, as Liam says:“They helped us make happy memories, even at the toughest time our family has ever been through.” You can read Benjamin’s story here.

We Axis people love Demelza

Axis people are in their element – snow, ice, water, air, mud – when we are fundraising for our charity partner Demelza. Tough Mudder challenges, cycling to Paris, swimming, boxing, flying, running, climbing in the Arctic, walking hundreds of miles, dancing, baking, eating (even not eating) – there’s no stopping us when it comes to raising funds for Demelza and the Axis Foundation. There’s more about our challenges here

Our clients, suppliers and subcontractors too have generously given at our golf days and charity ball to support both charities.The Axis Foundation’s Winter Appeal 2021 raised £75,000 for Demelza thanks to Axis people, our suppliers and subcontractors. And our 2021 Charity Ball raised a whopping £340,000 for the Axis Foundation’s small, local and impactful charities – including Demelza.

Map Matching

Foundation Funding Focus is mainly on the areas where our parent company Axis Europe works to make social housing properties safe and comfortable for residents: in London and the South East and Essex. Demelza offers hospice care in Kent and South East London, as well as helping families across the South East.

Money donated

All the money we raise goes into Demelza’s Adopt a Nurse programme, which brings a nurse full-time for one year. As well as visiting the children at the Hospice, the nurses also see their families at home to help with medication and physiotherapy as well as aid the parents in their time of need.

£100 buys nine hours of nursing care for a child with a life-limiting illness at Demelza.

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two adults and child in school Save Kids TeethDonations

Dental Wellness Trust

July 7, 2022By

Our donation helps Save Kids Teeth

The Axis Foundation has donated £8,000 to Dental Wellness Trust (DWT) to support their free LiveSmart tooth brushing and education programmes teaching children good oral health.

“We are most grateful for the support of Axis for our LiveSmart toothbrushing programmes delivered to 20,000 children in England. With this grant we are able to reach more children to help Save Kids Teeth” – Linda Greenwall, Founder

DWT delivers the LiveSmart programme mainly in schools in areas of higher social deprivation in London. Our grant will enable them to reach more schools and include the refugee community too.

The lasting impact of DWT’s Live Smart programme will be reduced gum disease and fewer hospital admissions for young people as well as a generation of children who understand the importance of healthy gums. Educating today’s children about the benefit of good oral hygiene will benefit the children of tomorrow.

Facts and figures

Tooth decay is the most common childhood infectious disease in the UK today. Annually, some 48,000 children, are admitted to hospital in the UK for teeth extraction under general anaesthetic. 60,000 school days are lost each year through tooth decay; some 1m parents have never taken their children to the dentist.

More about Dental Wellness Trust

DWT’s mission is to improve the general health and wellbeing of young children– especially those most in need – through dental wellness. They believe good oral health is a basic human right. DWT was founded by Dr Linda Greenwall who was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in recognition of her services to the dental profession. Dr Greenall volunteers her time to DWT, is a practising Dentist and lectures and writes extensively on the topic .

More about their work here

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disadvantaged

Centred Horseplay

June 13, 2022By

Helping hard to reach youngsters open all year round

With specially-trained horses, Centred Horseplay helps hard-to-reach young people. The Axis Foundation donated £7,091 towards building an indoor arena in a barn. Once built, the new premises will enable Centred Horseplay to stay open all year round. They will then be able to help even more hard-to-reach youngsters: many are experiencing drug and alcohol misuse, anxiety and eating disorders, neglect, abuse, aggression, and bullying.

“Thank you so much! This is going to make such a difference! This vital new facility will allow the charity to stay open all year round. Many of the young people who come to us are suffering from social exclusion and depression. All of this is exasperated in dark and cold winters. Our new arena will be well ventilated but also partially undercover so these very lonely young people can still participate in our courses throughout the winter. Our new location is incredibly peaceful and with your help we will be open all your round” – Marie Longstaff, Fundraiser

More about Centred Horseplay

Centred Horseplay describes itself as ‘often the last resort’. It helps young people referred to them by professional support workers and partners. Crucially these are children who are not progressing within conventional services, who may be ‘stuck’ or disengaged from talk-based support. Their fun and busy ReStart behaviour-change programme transfers successful behavioural training techniques for equines into the human world.

Centred Horseplay was founded in 2015 and is based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. It is the approved Gloucestershire Hub for world renowned charity TheHorseCourse. Centred Horseplay’s work has helped reduce re-offending and improved attendance and engagement with school/work/training. Multiple external, independent and academic reports testify to the efficacy of this equine-assisted approach.

There’s more about Centred Horseplay here

This donation was made utilising the Travis Perkins Community Fund.

 

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Community

Onward Homes

June 13, 2022By

Supporting Onward Homes’ important learning and leisure site for local community.

The Axis Foundation is donating £3,540 to purchase Bee habitats and planters and other pollinator friendly items.

“We’re really excited to see the difference that this new community space will make to the lives of our residents on North Hill Street. And we are delighted to have the support of the Axis Foundation with this project. Urban green spaces are so important in boosting health and wellbeing. The items donated by Axis will help bring nature nearer to our customers, whilst supporting pollinators in the process” – Sajida Kerbalai-Blackburn, Social Investment Specialist

More about the project

Onward Homes is creating this new community space from derelict space in direct response to resident feedback and research.  And, as well as building a stronger community the new space will help improve mental health and wellbeing, particularly of those who are isolated or lonely. Residents with no outdoor space will be able to enjoy the planted area. And there will also be educational benefits for community groups and local schools. Onward estimates about 1,000 local people will enjoy the new space.

More about Onward Homes and Axis

Onward Homes is a leading provider of 35000+ homes in the North West. The Axis Foundation’s parent company, Axis, is Onward’s Repairs Contractor. The Axis Foundation was therefore delighted to support this application.

There’s more about Onward Homes here

More about Axis’ work with Onward Homes here

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man in foreground directing two people on film setCare

LivedHealth

June 13, 2022By

Creating videos to help people with MS

People with MS and Parkinson’s host Lived Health‘s patient-led videos which empower patients and support carers.

The Axis Foundation’s 2022 donation of £3,000 helped fund LivedHealth’s video MS101 project in which hosts share their unique and honest perspectives on the issues of receiving and adapting to an MS diagnosis, and interview leading, international MS professionals on a range of topics.

“Many patients with MS feel lonely and isolated as they may not know anyone else with the condition that they can talk to or learn from. We’re incredibly grateful to the Axis Foundation for recognising the importance of patient-led resources and supporting us with our project” – Harriet Arnold, Trusts Fundraiser

The Foundation was delighted to learn that this video has been seen 170,000 times by an estimated 15,000 people in a year.

Second donation

And, in 2023, the Axis Foundation donated £4,000 to LivedHealth to make a follow up series of videos, exploring the topic of people with MS who believe their symptoms are getting worse, but whose belief is not supported by scan results. Thanking the Foundation for our second donation, Harriet Arnold said:

“We would like to extend our thanks to the Axis Foundation for your generous donation of £4,000 towards our “Is Smouldering MS the New MS?” video series. Last year, your donation of £3,000 was instrumental in the success of MS101; we are delighted that you have chosen to continue your support. This cutting-edge research topic could change the lives of people living with MS and, thanks to your donation, we can reach many more individuals in the community.

We are immensely grateful for your contribution to our cause here at LivedHealth. Your kindness will directly help those we serve and our whole team appreciates it. We look forward to continuing this partnership and keeping you updated with the progress of the new video series.”

See LivedHealth’s Thank You video here

More about LivedHealth videos

LivedHealth’s videos on YouTube and Facebook reach a wide and diverse global audience and support people with MS, their loved ones and healthcare professionals. They feature industry-leading international professionals, and provide fellow patients with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make positive lifestyle changes and optimise their engagement with health services.

See one of their videos here and find out more about LivedHealth here

 

 

 

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baby with hand Frankie and OliviaCare

Funds For Frankie’s Family

June 13, 2022By

Supporting a young family

The Axis Foundation was delighted to support Frankie’s family when he received bad news about his health and was unable to work. We donated £1,000 to help support their baby, Olivia, who was born in June.

When Frankie and his partner were expecting their first baby, Frankie found out he had Stage 4 Melanoma cancer. He received the news on Christmas Eve 2021. And in January 2022, he underwent an operation to remove lymph nodes and afterwards started his chemotherapy. Frankie is self-employed, an electrician by trade, and is not able to work because of the treatment. His family is on a low income and unable to help him financially.

Sarah Cooper, Senior RLO at Axis, applied for this grant for Frankie: his family are Sarah’s neighbours, and Frankie was in the same class as Sarah’s son, so Sarah feels a close connection and wants to help.

Thanking the Foundation, Sarah Cooper said: “I spoke to Frankie’s Mum on Christmas Eve when she told me his cancer had progressed from Stage 1 to Stage 4. I went home and was really upset. Then I thought, ‘I can help’ – so I applied to the Foundation for some money to help him whilst he was unable to work. I was absolutely overwhelmed to hear that my application had been successful. Vouchers for the new baby will really help this young family. Frankie’s prognosis is good but he will be monitored for the next ten years. All his family, including his grandparents are extremely grateful to the Axis Foundation for their donation.”

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Care

T.E.A.MS

March 7, 2022By

Improving well-being of MS sufferers

T.E.A.MS (Therapy, Exercise, Active, MS) provides people with MS with physical exercise, improving the mental and physical wellbeing of MS sufferers.

The Axis Foundation donated £1,400 to help T.E.A.MS purchase essential small items including a couch roll, oils, foam and half foam rollers, dyna bands as well as a massage bed.

“This funding will make such a difference to T.E.A.MS users. It will allow us to continue our work providing suitable therapies. Thank you to you and the other trustees for awarding us this grant” – Jacalyne Cebreiro, Sports Therapist, Personal Trainer and Sports Massage Therapist

Massage therapy by their qualified, experienced professionals (with 66 years experience in working with Multiple Sclerosis) is proven to help people with MS both physically (with aches, pain and fatigue) and mentally (relaxation).

More about T.E.A.MS

Everyone at T.E.A.MS has a deep knowledge and understanding of M.S. So, they provide invaluable advice and support, not only for the sufferer but for their families and carers too. And, as well as physical support like massage and exercise, the charity provides friendship and support to sufferers, offering a focus on positive living. Its overall aim is to maintain and improve both the physical and mental condition of those with MS and other similar neurological conditions

“T.E.A.MS has given me advice, exercise and true friendships that helps me immeasurably” – Emma

T.E.A.MS was founded in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the restrictions of lockdown meant that therapy for MS Sufferers was even more vital.The charity is based in Brentwood, Essex where Axis works with the local council to support local residents keeping their home safe and comfortable.

More about T.E.A.MS here 

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