Care

Strongbones Children’s Charitable Trust

Winter warmth for vulnerable children with bone conditions

Strongbones Children’s Charitable Trust helps children with severe disabilities/complex needs coupled with bone conditions such as scoliosis, bone cancer and spina bifida.

Each winter, many Strongbones children are hospitalised due to hypothermia, pneumonia, respiratory disease and Covid. Many children are from families in poverty. And fuel poverty adds to the severity of this problem.

The Axis Foundation’s winter 2023 donation of £5,600 buys 40 Winter Warmer packs to help the charity keep their children warm. Each pack consists of a penguin fleece blanket, an oddie wearable blanket, a pair of warmies soft boots and a warmies penguin handwarmer.

“This is wonderful news!! Thanks to all the trustees for agreeing to this incredibly generous grant. We have many children who will hugely benefit from these lifesaving packs” – April Fitzmaurice, Manager

More about Strongbones

Strongbones supports over 1,000 families of vulnerable children in Essex. They work to decrease social isolation and increase inclusion through supplying disability/educational equipment and providing educational opportunities. The charity also provides practical and emotional support to parents and carers, respite breaks, group residentials and accessible sports.

There’s more about their work here

 

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Disability

Mobility for Little Kit

Accessibility and mobility for little boy in wheelchair

Little Kit was an able child until he suffered a seizure at 18 months. Now age four, he cannot walk, talk or crawl.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £7,000 creates an accessibility ramp for the family home.

“We’re so grateful, you have no idea what this will do for our family (especially Kit!)” – Katherine, Kit’s mother

More about Kit

Kit was an able child until he was 18 months old in 2021, when he suffered a 2-hour long seizure. This caused significant brain damage and visual impairment. Kit is now four. He cannot walk, talk or crawl and needs constant care and hoisting.

His family have struggled to pay the cost of adapting their home after this devastating event: they plan to build an extension with fully hoisted bedroom, bathroom and storage area.

They needed to build an access path and ramp as part of these adaptations – and also so that Kit can use his motobility vehicle. The Trustees of the Axis Foundation were delighted to help the family.

As his mother Katherine says: “We’re desperate to keep our son at home with us: but without the path we’re not allowed the extension and without the extension he will not be allowed to live with us (in the future).

“We want to give him the best life we can.”

You can support Kit here 

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Disability

Red Eagle Foundation

Freedom for a young boy with complex health needs

Our donation of £5,000 to The Red Eagle Foundation helps buy both an electric wheelchair and all-terrain buggy for Arthur, a young boy with severe learning disabilities and complex health needs.

 “It was such a joy to see Arthur’s face at the wheelchair assessment… his joy of being in control of moving when there is so much that he can’t control due to his health. The buggy will also help him get out and about in areas where the wheelchair is not suitable. It is going to have such a positive impact on the family”  – Dominic Comins, CEO

More about Arthur

Arthur is a 12 year old boy. He is classed as a SWAN  (‘syndromes without a name’) and despite a lifetime of procedures and tests, as his mother says, “what we don’t know is how my son’s condition will change as time goes on”.

Arthur’s physical and mental health are deteriorating and his mobility levels decreasing. He is cared for additionally by Demelza, the Axis Foundation’s charity partner.

The Trustees of the Axis Foundation were delighted to help Arthur by making his life more mobile with an electric wheelchair to increase his independence and accessibility at venues/events. For example, he loves going to Howletts Zoo to see the elephants; but the hill is a challenge in a manual wheelchair – particularly for his mother who has had two back operations.

More about The Red Eagle Foundation

The Red Eagle Foundation empowers disadvantaged children and grants wishes to children with life-limiting illnesses. There’s more about their work here

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disadvantaged

The Children’s Book Project

Giving the gift of books to disadvantaged children

The Children’s Book Project collects new and gently-used books and redistributes them free to children and young people growing up in poverty.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £3,500 to The Children’s Book Project will completely fund ten Pop up Book Huts in London schools – from where the children can choose their free books.

‘We would like to express our enormous gratitude to the Axis Foundation for its generosity. As a small, grassroots charity, we are entirely reliant on fundraising. This donation will have a big impact on the Children’s Book Project, helping us put books straight into the hands of the children that need them most” – Liberty Venn, Founder

And there’s more…

Axis volunteers Alfie Shortall, Phil Cornell and Arjinder Bhogal collected and delivered the book huts to local schools. And their colleagues Jake Thomas, Jasveen Grewal, Thomas Crane, Steve Harpley and Daniel Brownett sorted books at the charity’s warehouse in Westminster. The Axis Midlands team is currently hosting a book drive for The Children’s Book Project to support communities that present a high level of socioeconomic disadvantage and/or emotional need.

More about The Children’s Book Project

The Children’s Book Project charity sees first-hand how giving children access to books makes amazing things happen; vocabularies expand, empathy grows, imaginations are ignited and children learn.

‘’Receiving these books is changing the reading culture of our school in a positive way…The Book Project through their generosity has enabled us to provide books to children who had none at home’’ – Teacher, Southern Road Primary, E13

You can read more about the incredible work of The Children’s Book Project here

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Care

Opportunity for Bespoke Care for Charles

Private autism assessment and chance for bespoke care

The Trustees of the Axis Foundation were delighted to donate £1,000 to help Luke Comb acquire a private assessment for his son Charles, who is showing clear signs of autism. A private autism assessment opens up opportunities for bespoke care.

“The rewards will be endless, the impact huge and life changing. Thank you” – Luke Comb

More about Luke and Charles

Luke desperately wanted a speedy assessment for his son Charles who was showing signs of autism. Getting Charles the right diagnosis early means he can be given the support he needs and opens up opportunities including access to special development programmes and bespoke care.

But waiting lists are long and family financial resources limited. So Charles applied to our Foundation for support.

In Luke’s words: “Charles is showing clear signs of autism. He is non-verbal and struggles in many everyday settings including with danger awareness and interaction. Professionals believe he is Autistic but cannot assess him for some time, possibly a couple of years. During this time, he won’t have full support or access to programmes that would benefit him.

“I believe this age is the crucial time to have him in the correct setting with access to purpose-built programmes for his development that will benefit him all through life. We believe, once fully diagnosed, he will have full support at an early stage when it is most needed.”

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Demelza

Supporting our Charity Partner Demelza

Everyone who works at Axis cherishes our Foundation and our charity partner Demelza

Indeed, there are literally no limits to what our people will do for the Axis Foundation and to ensure our charity partner, Demelza. continues to deliver extraordinary care to extraordinary children. Here are just a few examples: 

Top Row – We raised £800 in Children’s Hospice Week  * Collecting Demelza pots  * Getting Demelza’s garden summer-ready

Second Row  – Sorting donations at Demelza’s warehouse * Jake Thomas raised  £2,386 *   Miles in May raises £1,445

Third Row – Sarah Taylor raised £2,220 * Team Thames Path raised £2,255 * Team Tough Mudder raised £6,780

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Care

Mollie’s story

Helping care for a small child with Ataxia Telangiectasia (Louis-Bar syndrome)

Little Mollie has Ataxia Telangiectasia, a devastating, rare, inherited childhood neurological disorder. It affects the part of the brain that controls motor movement and speech.

The disease is also known as disease Louis-Bar syndrome. It is complex and additionally affects the lungs and immune system as well as causing sensitivity to radiation and increased risk of cancers.

It is also progressive and there is no cure. Decline starts increasing from age of five and little Mollie has recently turned six. It is most likely that is she will need a wheelchair by the age of 10.

Following an application from Joseph Hayes, Axis Business Development Manager, and moved by the plight of Mollie, the Trustees of the Axis Foundation agreed to a donation of £11,133. This will purchase her a Mollii suit (designed to relax muscles through neurostimulation), a Gallileo vibration board (to help with muscle tone) and also some specialist physiotherapy.

Emily Barker, Mollie’s mother, said: “Thank you so much for your email – we are over the moon that Mollie’s application was successful and so grateful she will now have access to a Mollii suit and Galileo board along with the specialist therapy.

“Our little girl deserves the best opportunities and chance in life so thank you so much for helping to make this happen – it really means the world to us.”

“We realise that right now without a treatment available the best options for Mollie are to support her strength and abilities with specialist therapies. We are therefore currently planning a Mollie’s Miracle Family Funday in August – this will be to raise money directly for Mollie to take part in extra therapies such as horse-riding therapies and hydrotherapy to ensure we are doing all we can to keep her muscles strong and help fight the symptoms of this devastating disease.”

Molllie’s parents run Mollies Miracle, with support of friends and family, raising funds to research into Ataxia Telangiectasia. More information here

You can donate to Mollie’s Just Giving page here

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Group of people round table HeadwayDisability

Headway West London

Supporting brain injury survivors

Headway West London helps brain injury survivors and their families, helping them reconnect with their local communities.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £3783 will support their computer/ mobile contact work including one-to-one support, online workshops, educational support work and health talks.

“We are very grateful to all at the Axis Foundation for their kind donation. This will assist us in providing our linkworkers with the best possible infrastructure to carry out their work with our members as efficiently as possible, and therefore enable us to support as many people as possible. Thank you from us all” – Laura Murphy, Chair of Trustees

More about Headway West London

A brain injury can happen to anyone: through a fall, a road accident, a sporting incident, an assault, a tumour or haemorrhage. Acquired brain injury is often known as the hidden disability. Survivors are often lonely, isolated, bewildered and very distressed by the sudden and dramatic changes to their lives.

Affiliated with Headway – the brain injury association, Headway West London helps ensure vulnerable, isolated brain injured survivors do not fall through the net, supporting them through one-to-one sessions, targeted training pathways, return to work support as well as health and wellbeing sessions, in-person and online.

They work in the west London boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster and have established close links with St Mary’s Hospital Paddington and Charing Cross hospitals, Hammersmith trauma clinics and Brain Odysseys, a performance arts intervention group designed with people living with brain injury to support recovery through song writing, music, dance and performance.

“HWL offers a great service supporting our patients and their families, particularly in the early days when things can be very overwhelming. They are able to offer advice and in particular help families with both emotional and practical needs. As a therapist it is so helpful to have their service to help support us in educating families and offering support when you can at times feel helpless as a clinician” – Natalie Marroney, Neuro Trauma Therapy Lead at St Mary’s Hospital

There’s more about their work here

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child playing with coloured balls in model boatDisability

Petts Wood Playgroup

Providing specialist tactile equipment for children with sensory issues

Petts Wood Playgroup for Children with Special Needs provides pre-school education for children with special needs from birth to five years.

The Axis Foundation donated £1,000 to purchase a sandpit and an alphabetical and numerical frieze: this interactive and tactile equipment will help children with sensory issues and those on the autistic spectrum or with a motor disorder.

“Oh wow, that is amazing news!  It is an amazing sum and will make such a difference to our children and the service we can provide. Thank you so much. We – and all the children who will benefit from using the sandpit and frieze –  are deeply grateful to the Axis Foundation” –  Larry Simpson, Manager

More about Petts Wood Playgroup for Children with Special Needs

Petts Wood Playgroup for Children with Special Needs provides care and education for children with clinical, emotional, developmental, social and additional needs aged from birth to five years. The special needs also include physical disabilities, developmental delay, behavioural and social problems that can cause difficulties for children and parents alike.

Attendance at the Playgroup is free. Their mini-bus picks up and drops off children to and from their homes in most local (Bromley, Kent) areas each morning. In addition to contributions and donations, support comes from Bromley Department of Education which provides services from an Educational Psychologist and Teachers from the Sensory Impairment Service.

More here

 

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Disability

Building for the Future

Contributing to music therapy for children and young people with disabilities

Building for the Future was founded in 2007 by a group of parents of disabled children. In 2014, they opened Our House, a specialist, accessible play centre where families can meet and disabled children can relax, have fun and be truly valued and accepted for who they are.

The Trustees of the Axis Foundation agreed to donate £460 towards starter packs (mainly to purchase musical instruments) for their new music therapy group.

“Thank you so so very very much for supporting us. The children and parents will be delighted with the new musical equipment. Results from our trial sessions were phenomenal. Not only have the children enjoyed the sessions but they have learned something new, were engaged and focused for the entire time and learnt to relax. The parents couldn’t believe the transformation.

“It’s a really tough climate out there at the moment and small charities like ours are struggling to provide services for the most needy members of our society. Due to the pandemic and the rising cost of living crisis our services are even more in demand than they ever were before and we are busier than we ever have been. The success of the music therapy group is an example of this demand and we are so pleased to be able to take what was a one-off session and offer it on a more permanent basis for our families” –  Jane Holmes, CEO

More about Our House/Building for the Future

Winner of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, Our House offers a range of facilities, including soft play, a sensory room, teen chill-out zone, PCs, gaming and free play area as well as activities such as Saturday clubs, after school clubs, holiday activities, physiotherapy and a youth group.  Parents and carers find support, solace and strength from one another; siblings can make friends with other children in similar situations; carers and grandparents can chat over a cup of coffee. Our House today helps over 500 children and young people with disabilities.

There’s more here:

 

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