White catering van with pale blue and pink branding - Destination Pond MeadowDonations

Destination Pond Meadow

September 17, 2026By

Providing training and experience for young people with complex disabilities for future independence

Destination Pond Meadow is a parent and staff fundraising group supporting Pond Meadow School in Guildford, which educates 170 pupils aged two to 19 with severe, profound and multiple disabilities.

Our Trustees donated £5,000 towards an equipped street van where pupils will prepare and serve drinks and snacks, helping them develop independence, practical skills and experience that support future education, training and employment opportunities.

The van will also support activities beyond the school. Plans include taking it to other schools, children’s sports matches and local events, including farmers’ markets. The project will link with local further education opportunities and other catering work experience placements.

“This is fantastic news and it was an incredibly quick decision. We are delighted to have this support for a project that will provide valuable opportunities for our pupils” – Nicola Rutherford, Project Fundraiser

More about Destination Pond Meadow

Pond Meadow School supports 170 pupils aged from two to 19, all of whom have severe, profound and multiple disabilities. More than 70% of pupils also have autism, while some have visual or hearing impairments, physical disabilities and additional medical needs.

Destination Pond Meadow focuses on projects that help pupils develop skills and opportunities for the future. In 2023, the group raised more than £116,000 to transform an old and obsolete food technology room into an adapted training kitchen for pupils.

There’s more about their work here

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Group of adults at Paul's Cancer Support CentreCare

Paul’s Cancer Support Centre

February 8, 2018By

Training volunteers to help cancer patients

Volunteers at Paul’s Cancer Support Centre provide emotional, physical and psychological support for 500 cancer patients a year. The Centre also has a Home Visiting Service for 100 patients who are too frail to make the journey to the premises in south west London.

The Axis Foundation has made two donations to Paul’s Cancer Support Centre. Our first donation (£3,300 in 2017) recruited and trained four massage therapists, three reflexologists and one befriender; our second (£2,500 in 2018) trained nine new Home Visiting Service volunteers.

“On behalf of the Trustees, staff, volunteers and clients at Paul’s Cancer Support Centre, I would like to thank you and your Fellow Trustees for all your support. We are truly grateful” – Scheherazade Ameer, Fundraising Manager

“Funding into our volunteers’ training is vital for us to provide support for cancer patients. We are so appreciative of the grant we received from the Axis Foundation. We cannot deliver our services without volunteers” – Marisca Ribeiro, Services Manager

More About Training

Scheherazade Ameer, Fundraising Manager, explained: “All our Home Visiting Service volunteers have to complete our high-quality, specially-designed 32-hour course. A nationally recognised expert in cancer and bereavement counselling has assessed our course as ‘a model of excellence’. We then match our Volunteers to Home Visiting Service clients once we receive their DBS approval.”

A Trainee Home Visitor told us: “Helping others is a humbling experience which also provides a great amount of satisfaction. I hope to gain a better understanding of the challenges those with cancer face so I can provide more effective and supportive massage treatments to them and contribute to improving their predicament, even if for a short while.”

A Home Visiting Service client said: “During a time when I was housebound, barely able to move about and seeking psychological and emotional assistance, this was the only local organisation who was able to provide face-to-face counselling in my own home; I am so grateful for that, and for how quickly it was organised.”

 

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