Wide Horizons logoDonations

Wide Horizons

October 12, 2015By

Adventure-based learning activities for disadvantaged children

Wide Horizons delivers a range of adventure-based learning activities for all age groups of school children. These include day centre nature experiences for primary school children and adventurous activities for older children and young people. They call this their ‘Adventure Learning Partnership’ programme.

Wide Horizons used their £5,000 donation from the Axis Foundation to provide a programme of outdoor education and adventure to sixty children from economically disadvantaged areas.

Our donation will fund a week long programme of activities, designed specifically to link with the school curriculum and help with educational and personal development. The children from Marvel Lane and Brent Knoll schools in Lewisham are selected based on a means testing system to identify those most in need.

“Helping Wide Horizons deliver adventure-based activities to children whose families cannot afford  thems, supports our belief that every child should have the opportunity to experience adventure as part of their education and throughout their lives”  – Axis Foundation trustee, Tim Hayes 

The benefits to children attending the adventure-based learning programme are far reaching and include increased confidence and self-esteem, better communication skills, an understanding of how to work as part of a team and achieving personal goals. These benefits combine to improve the chances of success at school and future employment.

“The donation to the Adventure Learning Partnership Programme was matched to two local primary schools in Lewisham which proved to be very successful. Each school had an amazing time, infact everyone had a fantastic time” – Lynn Leadbeater, Fundraising Manager

“The week was a great success and the teachers and children were buzzing when they returned back to school” – Headteacher, Eddie Dove

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3 children sit on large red chair at DemelzaDemelza

Demelza granted £75,000 in 2015 for specialist nurse care

April 20, 2015By

Charity partner receives a donation to fund more specialist care nurses.

The Axis Foundation has handed over £75,000 to the Demelza Children’s Hospice, a Kent-based children’s charity, after another year (2015) of employee fundraising and corporate donations, bringing the total amount given to the hospice through the Foundation to £250,000.

Fundraising activities have included Skydives, bake sales, participating in Demelza’s ‘Go Dotty’ week, an annual charity ball and other fun things organised by Axis’ people. Demelza Children’s Hospice, which operates in the South East area, provides care for the terminally-ill children to ease discomfort and provide support for children and their families.

Axis and the Axis Foundation adopted the hospice as their charity partner out of appreciation for their essential work with children and teenagers who, in most cases, make it to adulthood. Axis regularly challenges its people to raise money for their ‘Adopt a Nurse’ campaign in which the money raised helps to fund Demelza’s specialist care nurses’ annual salaries.

The Axis Foundation was established in 2008 and started donating in 2009 – Demelza was one of the Foundation’s first recipients. But Axis has been supporting the charity for a number of years prior to that (since 2004) and the total amount given, including money before the formation of the Axis Foundation, stands at over £500,000.

Ryan Campbell, Chief Executive of Demelza Children’s Hospice, gave his thanks to Axis: “Thank you for the incredible amount of £75,000 that Axis has raised for Demelza over the past year. Axis has really taken Demelza to its heart and has been fundraising for the charity over the last 11 years.

“The outstanding amount you have raised to date has meant that Demelza has been able to pay 13 specialist care nurses’ salaries, allowing us to provide the highest quality care possible to all of the children, young people and their families that need support across the South East. Demelza is only able to achieve this thanks to the support of our wonderful staff and volunteers and the amazing donations from organisations like Axis.”

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Children play dress up in Victorian clothes at the Ragged School in London.Donations

Ragged School Museum

February 16, 2015By

Boost for Victorian family learning programme

The whole family can enjoy “a day in the life of a Victorian” thanks to our support of the The Ragged School Museum‘s family learning programme.

Our donation of £3,000 will go towards free, drop-in Family Learning Holiday Activities in the school holidays.These activities are designed to engage the whole family, highlighting how learning together can be fun. It is estimated over 4,000 people will benefit from the Family Learning Programme over the year, here in what today remains a deprived area of London.

“Everyone at the Ragged School Museum feels proud and privileged to receive another donation from the Axis Foundation.  Your generosity is vital support for our lively family learning programme. We couldn’t be more grateful. Victorian philanthropy created the ragged school movement, today the Axis Foundation mirrors that generosity for new generations of children for which we are truly grateful” – Erica Davies,  Museum Director

More About The Ragged School Museum

The Ragged School Museum offers a unique experience, a living snapshot of Victorian childhood. Here, in a reconstructed Victorian classroom, pupils on school visits can directly experience how their destitute Victorian counterparts were taught. There is also a contemporaneous East End kitchen, so they can discover how hard domestic work was before electricity powered washing machines! The Museum is housed at  Dr Barnardo’s Copperfield Road Ragged School in Mile End which, from 1877, provided education, food and clothing to Victorian London’s destitute. It was the largest ragged school in London.

 

See our video celebrating our 10th birthday in 2019 – and find out how the Ragged School used our donation

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Boy stands on ball next to new sports equipment at Confidence through sportDonations

Confidence Through Sport

January 12, 2015By

New sports equipment for children in deprived area

Confidence Through Sport is a community organisation that runs sporting activities for 5-11 year olds. They are located in a park and a school club in North Thamesmead.

£2,500 from the Axis Foundation will fund new sports equipment for the sports-based community initiative, which operates in one of the most deprived areas in the country. We’re covering the cost of footballs, goals and some brand-new training apparatus.

The project remains affordable so that underprivileged children and those with additional needs or disabilities can also partake in healthy outdoor activities. They focus on football but other sports, such as badminton and basketball, are also encouraged.

There are currently 80 children registered and the club is overseen by five volunteers, including three official coaches with one being FA registered. The volunteer coaches strive to be a positive influence on the youngsters, who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Confidence Through Sports seeks to build the self-esteem and motivation of children and young people, as this will assist them in other areas of their lives.

“Before we were running on limited resources but now we have new footballs, built some goals and bought different equipment used to test agility. All of this allows our members to gain valuable sport experience and can help us provide for more young people”  – Robert Parrara, Chairman 

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Mother and child at Demelzas Hospice Care for ChildrenDemelza

We raise £50,000 for Demelza’s Adopt a Nurse Scheme in 2014

December 22, 2014By

Demelza’s Adopt a Nurse programme benefits from our devotion and donations!

We Axis people put in a lot of effort to raise funds for our charity partner Demelza. In 2014 alone we have raised a grand total of £50,000 for the hospice.

“I’m proud to work with such generous and committed people, who share Axis’ giving culture and feel personally motivated to organise, take part in and give generously to fund raising activities,” said John Hayes Axis CEO.

All the money we donate to Demelza goes into their Adopt a Nurse programme. Adopt a Nurse brings one full-time nurse for one year to take care of the children in Demelza’s care and visit families at home to help with medication and physiotherapy and provide some respite in dark times.

Natalie Tegg, Head of Partnerships at Demelza said: “Axis has been outstanding in their support for Demelza over the years. All the staff have really got behind the charity and done all sorts of amazing things to raise money from running, to cutting their hair off, baking cakes, playing golf even dressing as a clown! They have raised an incredible £400K and we just want to say a huge thank you from everyone at Demelza.”

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Elderly patient at North London hospice receives support from two carersCare

North London Hospice

September 11, 2014By

Specialist equipment increases comfort for terminally ill

The North London Hospice is a registered charity that has been caring for local people since 1984. They assist with the specialist needs of those with life-limiting illnesses; providing physical, emotional and spiritual care to patients and families, friends and carers. The hospice already looks after approximately 1,400 terminally-ill patients and their families each year.

Thanks to £4,800 from the Axis Foundation, patients at the North London Hospice will benefit from new specialist furniture designed to provide comfort through supportive postural and pressure care.

Our donation has purchased a pneumatic ‘HydroTilt’ recliner chair that will be available to hundreds of inpatients throughout the year. The specialist equipment protects vulnerable areas of the body from pressure damage and encourages healthy sitting positions, whilst Reflexion foam and Water-cell technology ensures comfort. These chairs will make sure that patients receive the finest standard of care possible.

“An important aspect of hospice care is the individual’s physical comfort. Proper seating plays a vital role in alleviating pain, but these seating requirements are often complex; trying to balance issues of comfort, pressure management, posture control and independence is not always easy” – Isla Stevenson, North London Hospice

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Four men from England Deaf Rugby Team show trophyDonations

England Deaf Rugby Team

August 11, 2014By

 Support for Deaf Rugby player

Paul Cooper, a member of the England Deaf Rugby team, Paul Cooper, received £500 from the Foundation which will go towards training equipment and transport costs to get to and from matches.

The Deaf Rugby team was set up for deaf and hard-of-hearing players who are often overlooked by mainstream clubs because of their disability. However, it often relies on donations for equipment, training facilities and transport to operate. The importance of the club goes beyond access to sport. The team were invited to take a tour of the Houses of Parliament and discuss deaf awareness with MPs.

Paul explained: “It’s not easy to communicate when you have partial hearing loss and making those in parliament aware of the challenges and issues that need to be addressed will hopefully help the wider deaf community.”

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Child abseiling on residential trip with Purley Youth ProjectDonations

Purley Youth Project

August 6, 2014By

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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Homeless man being served food in The Passage homeless kitchen.Community

The Passage

July 28, 2014By

Help for the homeless in Westminster

The Passage is a day-care centre that operates for the homeless, providing food and shelter, as well as two hostels for vulnerable rough sleepers at night. The centre is used by up to 200 people a day for both men and women, offering basic care, advice, health care re- homing help, education, training and hostel accommodation.

Westminster has the highest concentration of homeless rough sleepers in the country. There is a pressing need to both provide care for them with basic services and to support them to rebuild their lives. The Passage strives to achieve this by helping them access benefits they may be entitled to and by offering educational support so that they can find accommodation and maybe a way of income.

The Axis Foundation has aided The Passage in continuing their support for people in the Westminster area by donating £5,000. This donation will look to furnish the bedrooms in their main hostel and help fund new bedding, towels, table lamps, clock radios and cleaning kits so residents have a clean atmosphere and a pleasant feel to the place.

Over the years a number of Axis people have used their 1 volunteering day a year to volunteer at the passage to help out the homeless in the areas we work.  We have also donated painting equipment with staff volunteering their time to refurbish rooms and several corridors at the Passage Homeless Shelter.

In one year it took £3.9m to run their 48 bed shelter, the day centre and provide support including; mental health care, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, shelter for older homeless people, education and training for employment.

Axis recognised the importance of the Passage’s work and shares the centre’s ethos of providing a hand up rather than a hand out, something Axis employs within the social housing communities in which they work.

 

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Elderly man on specialist mattress to help patients in palliative care at St lukesCare

St Luke’s Hospice

May 28, 2014By

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.

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