Three young children in green leaves outdoor learning spaceDonations

The Friends of Collett School

April 8, 2021By

Creating forest learning space for children with Special Educational Needs

The Friends of Collett School approached the Axis Foundation to help convert an overgrown, unused forest area to a forest school area for children with Special Educational Needs. And we were delighted to make a donation of £540 to create learning packs for the project.

“This is such wonderful news! On behalf of everybody at The Friends of Collett School, thank you very much for your donation and support – it is really, really appreciated” – Rhea Dickman , Fundraising Lead, The Friends of Collett School

Our forest learning space for children with Special Educational Needs will include outside blackboards, a fit pit for cooking, sensory equipment, a mud kitchen and bug hotel, a trim trail, a living fedge and a den-making area. All these fun and educational work stations will help Collett’s children with Special Educational Needs engage with nature in a safe and supportive space. The children will learn transferable gardening skills, develop communication and cognitive skills and improve their self esteem and confidence.

The Collett School for Special Educational Needs in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire will also invite local community groups and special and mainstream schools to use the forest learning area. More about the school here

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Young child having swimming lessons with Level WaterDisability

Level Water

April 8, 2021By

£1,250 helps Level Water teachers carry long-term benefits of swimming to children with disabilities

Level Water trains swimming teachers to deliver specialist swimming lessons for children with disabilities. And, once they have learnt to swim, children can move to mainstream swimming lessons where Level Water teachers will carry on supporting them.

Therefore children with disabilities can continue to swim without barriers for the rest of their lives. And so they gain the long term benefits of mobility, raised self-esteem and greater resilience that swimming brings them too.

Our donation of £1250 to Level Water will fund Teacher Training Workshops in Shoreham, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill in Sussex; and in Tonbridge and Dover in Kent.

“It’s great to be working with the Axis Foundation in Sussex and Kent… you are helping us to provide thousands of one-to-one lessons for children who otherwise may never learn to swim. After a year with the swimming pools shut, the children we support are excited to improve their swimming and to learn new skills both in the pool and out” – Ian Thwaites, CEO, Level Water

More about Level Water

Level Water, based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, supports children with disabilities to access a lifetime of sport, to develop physical skills, become socially included and build self-esteem and resilience. Specifically, Level Water provides specialist one-to-one swimming lessons for children aged 4-11 with physical or sensory disabilities. A qualified Level Two teacher delivers each lesson socially distanced. More here

 

 

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young boy on dry ski slope TAG adaptive snow sportsDisability

TAG – 2nd donation

April 8, 2021By

We help TAG provide adaptive snowsports for young people with disability

TAG Youth Club in west London aims to empower and optimise the potential of young people with disability. And TAG’s Adaptive Snowports programme offers disabled people the thrills and excitement of snowsports.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £4789 will help TAG purchase a Mountain Man Sit Ski, a transfer sling and a vacuum cushion for postural support for wheelchair users.

‘Thank you so much to everyone at Axis and to those involved in the Axis Foundation for the kind gift. This has enabled us to purchase the bi ski and postural supports which means that no one will be excluded from taking part in this exciting sport. Skiing does more than just provide the benefits of being more active: it also supports people with their mental health and social skills and increases sensory stimulation”
– Giles Hobart, Lead Youth Worker, TAG

Case study: A TAG parent says

“My son doesn’t excel at sports and has struggled taking part in physical activities due to his disabilities. He loves the sensory feeling of speed and the wind on his face, so giving him the opportunity to sit ski will help change his outlook in life by providing him with a sport that captures his personality.”

Adaptive snowsports for young people with disability

The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games was officially the most successful in Paralympics GB’s history: snowsports athletes brought home an incredible seven medals. Following their inspiration, many more organisations seek to provide adaptive snowsports (skiing and snowboarding) for people with disability.

More about TAG

TAG, based in West London, provides young people with a safe, accessible, well-equipped environment and the opportunity to participate in personal and social development activities including arts, drama, music and sport. Fully-qualified adapted skiing and snowboarding instructors from Disability Snowsports UK deliver the snowsports lessons for TAG. Read more about TAG here.

The Axis Foundation previously donated £5,000 to TAG to fund an interactive sensory system at the Youth Club – more here.

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Child in grey Hypo Hounds t-shirt and black dogCare

Hypo Hounds

March 17, 2021By

Our helping hand to Hypo Hounds buys 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.

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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Neuromuscular physiotherapist for baby VinnieCare

Funding Neuromuscular Physiotherapist for Baby Vinnie

January 12, 2021By

Axis Foundation funds Neuromuscular Physiotherapist for baby Vinnie

Vinnie James was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1 at nine weeks old.

The progressive disease affects motor functions including the muscles used for swallowing and breathing. SMA Type 1 normally sees children passing away from respiratory failure before the age of two.

Vinnie, now five years old (in 2020), has been on a new drug called Spinraza for over four years. He is slowly starting to gain more physical strength.

Parents Luke and Kelly work daily with him at home and at school. The are ensuring that he is building new muscle strength to complement the medicine. They use specialist equipment and have the help of a Neuromuscular Physiotherapist.

The Axis Foundation has previously donated £6,000 to purchase a Permobil Koala Power chair to provide Vinnie with some mobility and independence. You can read more here.

The latest donation of £4,400 funds a year’s physiotherapy with a Neuromuscular Physiotherapist for Vinnie.

“The money from The Axis foundation has ensured that Vinnie has access to the best possible physiotherapy. It means that we can continue working hard on making our little boy stronger and he can keep smashing SMA. Thank you” – Luke and Kelly James

 

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Gift boxes for seriously ill children in hospitalCare

Tyler’s Trust

January 7, 2021By

With our donation, Tyler’s Trust bought gifts and equipment for seriously-ill children in hospital

And our donation gave this charity gave even greater help than we anticipated during COVID-19.

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.

“It’s been an unprecedented year for us all. We have strived to support our families with sick and ill children through this year in as many ways as was possible.

“In May, we started to deliver our support boxes by post and hand deliver at a social distance to those that we could reach. These were specifically to help with mental stimulation activities (for the children) and hygiene and self-care packs (for all the family) in COVID lockdown. We have also supported new families with our core service support packs, gift boxes and support to local hospitals’ children’s wards (parental pack for overnight stays). We reached over 30 families.”

In 2020 the Axis Foundation made a further award to Tyler’s Trust, purchasing I-pads and tablets to help seriously-ill children in hospital.

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.

A local charity, supporting local children, West Sussex-based Tyler’s Trust, also supports siblings and family members at a time when hope is often lost or fading. As a twin Tyler knows how hard it can be for brothers and sisters of sick children. 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

Newham Christmas Toy Appeal

December 18, 2020By

Helping local families living in poverty with Newham Christmas Toy Appeal

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.

Our donation

Our donation of £1,000 to Ambition Aspire Achieve’s (AAA) Newham Christmas Toy Appeal helped buy gifts to help fill the Christmas stockings of 3,000 children living in poverty in Newham as well as hampers for 100 families. These children and families are neighbours to all at Axis who work in the HQ in Stratford.

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.

“I write on behalf of the Newham Christmas Toy Appeal to thank the Axis Foundation for your wonderful support, which was truly appreciated.

The appeal provided: 2891 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, 2891 times over.”

What the families said

“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!” – Parent with a disabled child

“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” – Parent

“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” – Parent

“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” –  Grateful Parent

Why we support Newham’s 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.

The Axis Foundation supports small, local and impactful causes. So, in response a direct appeal from AAA to John Hayes (CEO, Founder and Trustee of the Axis Foundation) the Axis Foundation made a Christmas donation to AAA.

More about AAA here

 

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helping children with autism, child with headphones in front of screenDisability

Time4Autism

December 9, 2020By

Donation helps children with autism improve their motor and cognitive abilities

Time4Autism is run by parents and volunteers to provide activities for children with autism. These activities, which include yoga, drumming and trampoline, help children develop their motor and cognitive abilities.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £600 buys a Soundsory headset. This is a multi-sensory programme of music (processed with neuro-acoustic modifications) and movement-based exercises, designed to help children with autism improve their motor and cognitive abilities.

Time4Autism will lend the Soundsory system to families within their local community in Milton Keynes so they can help their children at home. This is especially vital when face to face sessions are impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Thank you for the generous gift to Time4Autism! We are so happy to have your support. Through your donation, we can continue working towards supporting children with Autism. Your donation is going toward providing headsets for children with sound sensitivities and sensory problems. You have helped us to lend the system to families, so they can help their children at home. This is especially vital when face-to-face sessions are impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions. Thank you again!” – Jabeen Salam, Treasurer

More about Time4Autism

The charity helps parents and carers to understand their child’s sensory needs and behaviours and supports them in dealing with challenging behaviours.

The Soundsory programme which we have donated also helps children and adults with motor delays, balance and coordination issues, sensory and auditory processing disorders, ADD and ADHD as well as whose on the autism spectrum and with developmental issues.

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