Fatory of Freedom Power ChairsDisability

Freedom Power Chairs

April 8, 2021By

We fund bespoke power wheelchair for cerebral palsy sufferer

‘H’ is a 65-year-old man who is severely disabled through cerebral palsy. The Axis Foundation’s donation of £1,750 to Freedom Power Chairs will help the charity design and adapt a power chair to H’s near foetal position posture, with a joystick adapted for use by his foot. The chair will feature the supportive and contoured seating ‘H’ requires along with adapted footrests and controls.

With his new chair H can enjoy activities independently. The new power chair will also greatly help his carers who have to lift him from his bed to his chair.

“The Trustees of Freedom Powerchairs are most grateful to have received financial support from the Axis Foundation to enable us to provide a much-needed special powerchair for a client “H” with Cerebral Palsy. It now gives him the freedom to travel; to shop, meet friends, take his companion dog for a walk, and to get on buses to visit other charities where he is himself a volunteer” – Martin Osment, Founder and Trustee, Freedom Power Chairs

More about Freedom Power Chairs

Martin Osment, Freedom Power Chairs Founder and Trustee, is an experienced engineer. As a disabled person, his own lived experience showed that ‘off the peg’ wheelchair solutions were often not adequate, particularly for people with complex mobility issues. So, he used his skills and experience to design a powerchair which met his individual needs. From here he founded Freedom Power Chairs.

At the Sussex-based charity’s workshop, Freedom Power Chairs design produce and supply individually-tailored power wheelchairs at affordable prices. In addition, they adapt manual chairs, scooters and other mobility aids, provide a repair and maintenance service and modify existing chairs to meet the needs of individual clients. Their Community Support Mobile Workshop helps the wider community. They also provide a rental service. By using their recovered, refurbished and adapted stock Freedom Power Chairs provide custom built powerchairs at a fraction of the price of a new one. More here

 

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Adapted accessible toilet facilities for Danemead Scouts Camp SiteDisability

Danemead Scout Camp Site

April 1, 2021By

Increasing accessibility to natural beauty spot and educational facilities

Danemead Scout Camp Site encourages young people and the community to enjoy outdoor recreation, providing training in practical life skills as part of their educational programme here. The site welcomes schools, colleges, youth groups, local community organisations. Indeed, over 3000 people stayed on the site in 2019.

And, so that even more people can stay and enjoy this 34-acre ancient, coppiced woodland of unspoilt beauty in Hertfordshire, the Axis Foundation donated £3,000 to Danemead Scout Camp Site to help convert an existing external toilet into a purpose-design disabled toilet and washroom.

“We will always be grateful to Axis Foundation for supporting and helping the funding of the installation of the disabled toilet facility.

“The refurbishment of the toilet room to a disabled facility sits firmly in the social model of disability as it allows the inclusion into the site and facilities of wheelchair users and other disabled persons, by the provision of accessible toilet and washing facilities. We are excited about increasing the use of the camp site for further and additional community organisations”  – Mike Hayward, Camp Site Secretary

More about the refurbishment

The toilet required expanding to provide low level toilet and wash basin. Works also included removing the existing waste and water connection piping and diverting the system and subsequent re-connection and the installation of new fixings, safety rails, alarm system, tiling and new anti-slip floor. In addition, an external ramp was constructed and the existing steel door aperture was widened for wheelchair access.

More about Danemead Scout Camp Site

Danemead Scout Camp Site welcomes schools, colleges, youth groups, local community organisations and is run solely by volunteers. In addition, the Camp Site undertakes environmental conservation work involving the preservation of trees, landscapes, wildlife and their habitats.

There’s more about Danemead Scout Camp Site here

 

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Child in grey Hypo Hounds t-shirt and black dogCare

Hypo Hounds

March 17, 2021By

Helping children with Diabetes: we purchase a specialist Diabetic Alert Assistance dog

“One sniff at a time” Hypo Hounds save the lives of children affected with Brittle Type 1 Diabetes every day. And our donation of £2,700 will purchase and feed a puppy and also cover its insurance.

“The wonderful donation by the Axis Foundation will enable us to purchase a puppy for a child, insure it and feed it for the first year of its life. Without this funding we would have had to temporarily disappoint a child that is in desperate clinical need. We are extremely grateful” – Mrs Jane Pearman FRSM, Chief Executive and Founder

CASE STUDY Ruby the Hypo Hound

“My daughter Chloe might not be here now if it wasn’t for Hypo Hound Ruby. During a recent sickness bug Ruby began to panic! She is usually such a calm dog, she would not stop alerting. We tried to control Chloe’s bloods as best we could at home, but we were not able to keep her fluid intake up. Ruby knew this and Chloe was at serious risk of falling into DKA. We listened to Hypo Hound Ruby, trusted that something wasn’t right and sought medical advice. Chloe was taken into hospital and placed onto a drip until her vomiting bug ended.

“Chloe and Ruby are the best of friends and are inseparable. Ruby is just amazing and we love her to bits” – Kathy (Chloe’s mum)

More about Hypo Hounds

Type 1 Diabetes effects 29,000 people in the UK. And 20% of those have this rare form, Brittle Type 1 Diabetes, for which there is no known cause and there is no cure. And every day, children with Brittle Type 1 Diabetes are at risk of collapsing, failing into a Diabetic coma and potentially dying in their sleep.

Because Hypo Hounds are trained to alert to parents/owners of the subtle changes in a child’s blood sugars they can help to prevent potentially life-threatening hypoglycaemic attacks, allowing parents to treat the child and mitigate the risk of hospital admissions.

Early detection of these changes in children with Brittle Type 1 Diabetes also means that the child’s long-term health is improved. Early detection reduces risk of renal failure, loss of sight and amputation.

Hypo Hounds’ amazing dogs are beating all the current technology by a precious 15 minutes, providing comfort, peace of mind and relief to parents and families.

More here!

There is more about Kent-based charity Hypo Hounds here.

 

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Little boy in goggles using assistive technology to communicateDisability

 Lifelites

March 9, 2021By

Donation to Lifelites provides assistive technology for children with life-limiting illnesses

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £5,000 to Lifelites will buy assistive and inclusive for technologies to help children with life-limiting illnesses who attend Demelza Hospice Care for Children, the Axis Foundation’s charity partner.

“Lifelites is incredibly grateful for the support of the Axis Foundation. The Covid-19 pandemic has really highlighted life-limited and disabled children using hospice services as some of the most vulnerable and isolated in our society.

“With this donation from the Axis Foundation, Lifelites will be able to provide life-changing technology so children at Demelza  are able to communicate, play, engage with the world around them and control something for themselves” – CEO Simone Enefer-Doy

Case Study – JJ’s Story

Eyegaze is just one example of Lifelites’ assistive and inclusive technologies. Here’s a first-hand report of how it helped one little boy.

“Before JJ was diagnosed with ALD, he was an able young boy, attending a mainstream school. Once diagnosed he slowly lost the ability to walk and talk. The Eyegaze works really well for JJ as a form of play and interaction. He enjoys using all the apps within the Eyegaze, allowing him to create art, and make different patterns on the screen, just by moving his eyes. It is a great way to socially interact with him.

“JJ enjoys making drum beats on the Eyegaze. This is fantastic as he is able to do it on his own, encouraging his independence, when normally he needs assistance with everything. JJ used to love playing the drums before he became unwell.” – Charlotte, JJ’s care assistant

Our donation to Lifelites will help them procure, install and maintain assistive technology like Eyegaze at Demelza, helping life-limited children as well as their siblings, parents and other family members.

More about Lifelites

Lifelites consults, pilots, procures, installs and supports and maintains bespoke packages of assistive technologies for every children’s hospice service in the British Isles.

They train care staff in its use and application on an on-going basis to ensure the equipment is in constant use for the children for whom every second counts. Lifelites has 60 projects across the British Isles.

Using the power of assistive and inclusive technology Lifelites aims to give every life-limited and disabled child using hospice services the opportunity to play, to communicate effectively, to take part in creative activities and to choose and control things for themselves.

Assistive technology enables life-limited children to communicate and interact with their well siblings as other children, to engage meaningfully with parents and carers and to remain engaged with their world for as long as possible.

There’s more about Lifelites here

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Winter Appeal Thank You in child's handwriting with hearts and starsDemelza

Foundation’s Winter Appeal for Demelza raises £75,000

January 22, 2021By

The Axis Foundation’s Winter Appeal for Demelza raised £75,000 for our friend and charity partner Demelza Hospice Care for Children.

Axis people, our suppliers and subcontractors raised £44,139.46. The Axis Foundation donated an additional £30,860.54. The Axis Foundation was delighted to present a cheque for £75,000 to Demelza in January 2021.

Thank you from Demelza

“Christmas was made all the more magical this year at Demelza by the incredible news that our good friends at Axis had made an incredibly vital donation of £75,000 to support children with serious or terminal conditions.

“This of course wouldn’t have been possible without all you truly wonderful people working directly at Axis, and of course to all the subcontractors and suppliers who went that extra mile to get involved too. We couldn’t do what we do without the support of people like yourselves. Every single penny that was raised really does make such an incredible difference to those under our care.

“To put this amount into perspective, £75,000 is the equivalent of over 1,531 hours of expert, daytime care for a child or young person with a serious or terminal condition at one of our hospices or the cost of funding two specialist nurses for an entire year at Demelza.

“This pandemic has changed everything, but thanks to people like yourselves keeping our doors open, we can continue to be there for families when they need us.

“To each and every one of you who have taken part in this incredible Axis Foundation Winter Appeal for Demelza campaign, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being part of our Demelza Family” – Lila Dowie, Head of Corporate Partnerships and Trusts at Demelza

There’s more about the Axis Foundation and Demelza here.

A very big thank you from us all at Axis and the Axis Foundation to…

Alandale Plant & Scaffolding Limited, Ardleigh Improvements Ltd, Bellamy Surveying Consultancy Services, BJL Electrical, Butler Young Associates, Camview Security Ltd, Compliant Scaffold Solutions, CV Library, DMD Contracts Ltd, DMG Office Supplies, Embassy Site Services UK Ltd, Estec Engineering, Faithorn Farrell Timms, Furness Partnership, Holdgate Electrical, Howells, ICD London Solutions, Integral Environmental Solutions Ltd, Intex Facades, Lindfield Electrical Services, London Fire Solutions, M&M Moran, M&R, Mark Building Maintenance Ltd, Mastacab SE Ltd, MC Builders, Miranda Double Glazing Ltd, New Millennium Scaffolding, New Tech Roofing Ltd, Paramount Scaffolding, Parish Print Consultants Ltd, PEP Ltd, PGM Maintenance Ltd, Pro-Thor, Rich Demolition Ltd, ROCC Housing Technology Solutions, Rose Construction Essex Ltd, Russell Trew Ltd, SEI Contractor Ltd, Stakot, Sureclose Group, Teco Interiors, Travis Perkins, TW Drainage, VH Electrical, Vinyl Creations Limited, Warrens Roofing

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Girl on Scooter for MS SufferersCare

Mobility Scooters for MS sufferers

January 13, 2021By

Mobility for MS sufferers

When a good friend saw that fellow MS sufferer Alice Tilley would benefit from a mobility scooter, she applied to the Axis Foundation for help on Alice’s behalf. We were delighted to help with a donation of £2,175 so Alice could have a mobility scooter.

More about Alice

Alice Tilley, 28, has an aggressive form of relapse and remitting MS. When she has a relapse Alice is unable to walk unaided. She cannot drive and is totally reliant on her parents to get her around.

Claire Pearce, who works at Axis, also suffers from MS. After she applied to us, the Axis Foundation bought a lightweight mobility scooter for Claire. And so Claire applied for one for her friend Alice too.

“I have limited mobility and the mobility scooter that the Axis Foundation purchased for me gave me a huge amount of independence. A mobility scooter will help Alice too,” says Claire.

And the Axis Foundation was delighted to help Claire’s friend. Thanking us for our donation of £2,175 Alice said: “I was able to choose the world’s lightest mobility scooter which I can pack into our car.

This is going to make such a difference to my independence and the management of my mobility. Thank you Axis Foundation.”

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funding physiotherapy for Kasia's babyCare

Funding physiotherapy for baby Antoni

January 12, 2021By

Physiotherapy for baby after diagnosis of neurological cyst

The Trustees of the Axis Foundation were delighted to help Kasia Ulanowska who works at Axis. They agreed to fund 18 months physiotherapy for her baby Antoni  who was diagnosed with a neurological cyst, donating £5474 for the treatment.

Kasia says: “Knowing that we can help him catch up but not being able to afford was just heart breaking. We had not even dreamed about half what we have been donated, we will be forever grateful.”

More about Kasia and Antoni

Kasia Ulanowska gave birth to her long-awaited son Antoni in week 35 of an extremely difficult pregnancy, complicated by multiple medical emergencies. Antoni was born tiny, weighing only 1.7kg (3.7lbs). He was rushed to intensive care and spent a month in hospital before he could come home.

Kasia was concerned about Antoni’s physical development. And a diagnosis of a neurological cyst, a brain abnormality which causes hypertonia (increased muscle tone) put him at a very high risk of abnormal development and developmental delay.

Ruth Bayliss, Highly Specialist Paediatric Physiotherapist and Clinical Director of The Children’s Physio LTD, recommended early intervention and regular physiotherapy treatment saying:

“His current physical presentation can be significantly improved with the help of physiotherapy.”

Long waiting times in the NHS forced Kasia to consider private physiotherapy. So, she asked the Axis Foundation for help to fund the treatment.

The Trustees of the Axis Foundation were delighted to help Kasia who works at Axis. They agreed to fund 18 months physiotherapy treatment donating £5474.

Antoni’s physiotherapist reports: “Antoni has done incredibly well over the last year and continues to respond to physiotherapy well and meet his developmental targets.”

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Gift boxes for seriously ill children in hospitalCare

Tyler’s Trust

January 7, 2021By

Gifts and equipment for seriously-ill children

In 2019, we donated £1,500 to Tylers Trust to support their work giving gifts and equipment to seriously ill children in hospitals.

Their Funding Support Officer, Juliet Stallard, explains how our donation helped them give a little bit extra to local children and their families during the pandemic.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to the Axis Foundation. You kindly donated £1,500 to Tyler’s Trust in 2019 towards essential equipment to support seriously-ill children in hospital. The equipment, DVDs and TVs you provided helped children in 2019. And when COVID hit in 2020, many of the children had to lock down in hospital. So the extra provisions you helped us with helped those children in local hospitals who were unable to get out of bed.

Our further donation

In 2020 the Axis Foundation made a further award of £1,690 to Tyler’s Trust to purchase I-pads and tablets.

More about Tyler’s Trust

Young Tyler underwent extensive surgery and radio therapy following a diagnosis of a brain tumour. During his long time in care, the thoughtful 12-year-old bought two young fellow patients a comic and a toy.Their delighted reaction inspired Tyler. So, in 2014, he founded the charity Tyler’s Trust giving a Gift Box to patients who have been diagnosed with a brain tumour or are suffering from a life threatening condition. Each box contains cheering gifts including a teddy, a bandana, a mug, pens, sweets and a voucher. And, as well as giving gift boxes to family members, Tyler’s Trust also provides additional backup including through an annual family support day.

Tyler has been nominated for several awards in recognition of his courage. In 2018, he received a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his work. He says that his greatest achievement is the creation of Tyler’s Trust, whose patron is TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton.

There’s more about Tyler’s Trust here

 

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Warehouse full of Christmas gifts for children living in povertydisadvantaged

Ambition Aspire Achieve: Newham Christmas Toy Appeal

December 18, 2020By

Helping local children and families living in poverty at Christmas

We have made three donations to Ambition Aspire Achieve‘s (AAA) Newham Christmas Toy Appeal.

In both 2020 and 2023 we supported AAA with donations of £1,000. And in 2024 we added £2,000 to support this local friend. Our donations to AAA’s Newham Christmas Toy Appeal bought gifts to help fill the Christmas stockings of 3,000 children living in poverty in Newham as well as hampers for 100 families.

Why we support Ambition Aspire Achieve

Axis’ HQ is in Stratford, east London, in the borough of Newham. Ambition Aspire Achieve is a Newham-based charity supporting disadvantaged, vulnerable and at-risk local children and families all year round.

2023

“That’s really great news – the donation will go directly towards purchasing much-needed toys for the appeal this year” – Johny Boux, Chief Executive

2020

2020 was a difficult and challenging year for everyone because of COVID-19. And, for those living in poverty, based in temporary accommodation, who may have behavioural difficulties and be the victims of abuse, Christmas might have been just another miserable day. For some children there would be no family lunch round the table with crackers. No gifts. Not even a stocking.

Kevin Jenkins, OBE, Co-Ordinator of the Newham Christmas Toy Appeal, said: “Thank you for making this difference for our area’s most disadvantaged, vulnerable and at-risk children, especially in this the most difficult and challenging of all years.

“As all the available evidence confirms, it is the poorest families already in need who have suffered the most, and many other families, through no fault of their own, have been pushed into poverty as a result of the hardship and loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The appeal provided: 2,891 children with a Christmas stocking for Christmas morning – helping more children than ever before; 100 families (approx 300 children) with a seasonal food hamper. With my sincere thanks, 2,891 times over.”

What the parents variously said to AAA:

“I need a card that gives you a big hug to show my gratitude for the lovely presents for the children. I have not worked for a while and worried as I don’t have money to spend on Christmas gifts and then the surprise made a huge difference!”

“I am so grateful to you and your team for all these gifts and the way you have supported my family. I am not working and not getting any benefits. We are spending my savings from my business before I became unwell. I would not have been able to buy anything for my girls but because of you, our Christmas is a happy one”

“I have struggled with my mental health this year and to be honest I don’t think I have thought about Christmas or presents. To receive this I am very grateful and it has made me very emotional that people are still looking out for each other. It has uplifted me”

“A massive thank you for our delivery of food and toys today. The children were so so happy and it cheered us all up after a hard week. My eldest said he was close to tears at how nice it was that someone would do that for us. Thank you so much to you and your team and anyone who donated. It really has helped make our Christmas. I hadn’t been able to get dessert or gravy for our Christmas Dinner because we have been isolating and I’m so pleased that we can now have some of the lovely things in the hamper”

More about AAA here

 

 

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canoes and kayaks on river helping disabled young people enjoy paddlesportsDisability

Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club

December 17, 2020By

Hoist to help disabled young people get in and out of canoes

Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club, based on the Basingstoke Canal, provides safe paddlesport activities for disabled young people. Paddlesport activities include recreational kayaking and canoeing.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £2,000 helps buy them a mobile mechanical hoist. This will help paddlers with physical disabilities (in particular wheelchair users) to get on to the water. They can then take part in kayaking and canoeing activities on the canal.

“We are passionate about being able to provide kayaking and canoeing activities to people who would not otherwise be able to participate in paddlesports. The hoist will assist getting paddlers with impaired mobility in and out of kayaks and canoes” – Janella Mansell, Paddlesport Officer

The hoist will help young disabled people from Trealors College, a local school and college for disabled young people. Students currently have to use a swimming pool because of the height of the banks at the club house, Odiham Wharf, Colt Hill in Odiham, Hampshire.

The benefits of paddlesports include independence and better physical and mental wellbeing.

More about Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club

Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club is a charity run by volunteers.  The Club is affiliated to British Canoeing. Their specialist coaches are trained and experienced in kayaking with disabled people. They run courses throughout the year, regular taster sessions over the summer and have regular club nights. And, they reach out to their local community offering bespoke taster sessions to youth groups and other voluntary organisations.

More here 

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