Welcome to Axis Foundation, the charitable arm of Axis.

living in poverty

Off the Fence

January 11, 2023By Axis Foundation

Donation saves lives of homeless people

Off The Fence supports vulnerable and socially excluded people in Brighton and Hove in Sussex. Antifreeze, is the charity’s day centre for the homeless, part of an emergency outreach.

The Axis Foundation donated £7,000 to Off the Fence Trust to purchase 200 Vango Atlas Heavyweight sleeping bags for the rough sleepers who use the services of Antifreeze.

“We are so grateful, as are our clients. Until they are housed, each of our clients uses at least two high quality sleeping bags a year, demand fuelled by wear and tear or theft. £7,000 enables us to purchase 200 military quality sleeping bags that will undoubtedly prevent deaths from exposure, illness and the cold through the Winter months. This is helps us meet a significant proportion of our outdoor budget in this area” – Roy Stannard, Head of Income-Generation and Comms

“Thank you for your compassion and generosity. Lives will be saved” – Jane Leaver, Office Finance and Individual Giving Co-ordinator

More About Off the Fence

Celebrating its 25th year, Off The Fence Trust works with vulnerable and socially excluded people in the Brighton and Hove area. Over 700 people use Antifreeze, the charity’s day centre for the homeless. Some users (for example if they own a dog,) have elected to remain rough sleepers. In 2021-22 Antifreeze’s services were used 1,775 times. Whilst many rough sleepers can be accommodated in the City’s hotels and B&Bs, this is only a temporary solution, and the numbers are rising steeply.

Off The Fence Trust tackles social and spiritual poverty, and help members of the community who are facing crisis situations with little or no support. Their priority is to provide a practical, emotional and psychological safety net through three projects:

Antifreeze, a day centre for the homeless – part of an emergency outreach to rough sleepers
Schools’ programme for 6-18-year-old children
Gateway, a women’s centre supporting women in crisis

There’s more about their work here

Community

St Luke’s Community Hub

September 5, 2021By Axis Foundation

Helping vital community hub support those affected by poverty and homelessness

St Luke’s is a community hub based in Kennington in south London. It is managed by the West London Mission (WLM). The centre helps people affected by poverty and homelessness.

Their carpet in the common areas and stairwell here was very old and no longer fit for purpose. So when WLM approached the Axis Foundation for support to get a new one, we were delighted to help.

During the prep to lay the carpet, the floor underneath was found to be crumbling and in need of repair. And so the Axis Foundation’s donation of £2,243 repaired the floor and supplied and installed a new carpet for the benefit of service users and everyone who works at WLM St Luke’s.

“The folks at St Luke’s are absolutely thrilled beyond words to have a new carpet in the common area and stairwell.

“They are hugely grateful as no budget exists right now for such things. We badly needed it as it is a public space. It is now clean and welcoming, worthy of the staff and the service users – vulnerable folk in the local community.

“Hats off to Axis and the Axis Foundation. You and your team have made a huge difference” – Patrick O’Meara, Advisor to WLM

More about West London Mission and St Luke’s

WLM has been helping people facing poverty and homelessness since 1887. The link between homelessness and financial insecurity is as clear today as it was in the 19th century. People whose rent is in arrears are vulnerable to eviction and subsequent homelessness.

So, WLM St Luke’s aims to prevent homelessness by empowering people faced with financial and digital exclusion, low income and high levels of debt to feel confident, more in control of their finances and less isolated.

As they say: “Our focus is financial resilience and digital inclusion. We want our community to feel confident about managing their money and to gain the skills to get online.”

Enjoying thriving partnerships with local organisations and networks, St Luke’s offers computer and money management training as well as affordable desk space for local start-ups and affordable accommodation for low income workers.

There’s more about WLM St Luke’s here.

Warehouse full of Christmas gifts for children living in poverty

disadvantaged

Newham Christmas Toy Appeal

December 18, 2020By Axis Foundation

Helping local families living in poverty at Christmas

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.

“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 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

Kennet Furniture, man in high vis jacket in store room of furniture and white goods

Community

Kennett Furniture Refurbiz

September 8, 2020By Axis Foundation

Aid for Families in Crisis

We might take them for granted, but white goods such as cookers, washing machines, and fridges are vital to families in crisis, where abuse and relationship breakdown may be factors, where a single parent is often caring for troubled children. White goods help such families live hygienically and eat healthy, home-cooked food.

The Axis Foundation’s donation of £2,000 will contribute to Kennett Furniture Refurbiz‘s (KFR) Families in Crisis Project Fund whereby KFR will supply and install – free of charge to qualifying families – essential large white goods which have been refurbished at their premises in Devizes.

KFR estimates that their Families in Crisis project will help 450+ people per/annum.

“Our charity would like to offer our sincere thanks to the Axis Foundation for the amazing donation towards our Families in Crisis project. Since reopening on the 1st of June, following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, our Crisis fund has provided 59 items of white goods to struggling families and individuals free of charge. According to the “Reuse Network’s impact calculator”, the cost of buying these items new, would have totalled nearly £9,000 and in doing so we have generated a 1718kg saving in C02 by refurbishing these items. We not only help families to survive, we also help the planet!”– Daniel Thompson, Operation Manager

More about KFR

Kennett Furniture Refurbiz (KFR) visits over 3,000 homes each year collecting and refurbishing furniture and white goods for re-sale to households with limited income in Wiltshire.

Environment protection

Each year KFR also prevents over 150 tonnes of items of pre-owned furniture and white goods being sent to landfill by refurbishing them and finding them new homes.

Training and employment

KFR also offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities and trains volunteers to become accredited white goods repair technicians, meaningful qualifications for employment.

There’s more about them here