Sense
One-to-One Support
Sense is a national charity that supports and campaigns for children and adults who are deafblind. They are a unique organisation which provides direct, one-to-one support for around 90 deafblind children across Birmingham; helping them learn to communicate and literally make sense of their world. A specialist team also offers help to deafblind young people during their transition from child to adulthood.
Deafblindness is a highly complex condition with little public awareness. For many deafblind people, the environment can be a barrier for access. There is a huge reliance on the other senses – smell, touch, taste, in addition to memory, to help move around.
Our Support: Training Kitchen
Our grant has established a training kitchen, specifically adapted to allow sensory-impaired people to access, understand and control their environment, and do so with a feeling of safety and security. Our second grant to Sense enabled both London and Midlands branches to purchase cutting edge technology and software to further education and interaction for Deafblind adults. The wonderful people at Sense rely on voluntary donations to continue their amazing work.
Find out more about Sense: sense.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do.
Thrive
Using Gardening to Change Lives
Thrive uses gardening to enable disabled people to transform their lives. Thrive’s gardening programmes are designed to improve physical and psychological health, develop personal, life and vocational skills and reduce social isolation. They have helped people with learning difficulties or mental ill-health get qualifications and jobs, and supported those recovering from stroke, heart attack or head injury to regain physical strength and motor skills. Thrive also provide advice and information and training in social and therapeutic horticulture for social and healthcare professionals.
Our Support: Life After Stroke
Life After Stroke in Birmingham, encourages stroke survivors to use gardening as a rehabilitation process. Patients work closely with a Horticultural Therapist to establish personal needs and recovery. Whilst each person undertakes tasks designed to support their own recovery related goals, they work in groups of up to 12 as this nurtures social interaction, communication and team working.
As well as being great exercise, gardening relieves stress and anxiety, and seeing plants grow boosts a person’s self-esteem.
The Metropolitan Police
Breaking Down Barriers
The Metropolitan Police FC has recently established an under 18 and under 16 football side. These teams are targeted to and focused on youths who are, or are at the risk of becoming social excluded across the London boroughs.
Such an initiative enables young people to interact from different parts of London (different postcodes) increasing engagement and understanding of each other.
DCI Clive Driscoll who is the Senior Investigating Officer into the murder of Stephen Lawrence leads the programme, which aims to break down barriers between London’s youth and the Met police, strengthening relationships and trust. Clive is passionate that each member of the FC should have access to educational and outreach services as part of the project, and has been partnering with leading football clubs such as Chelsea, Fulham and Charlton to make this happen.
Our Support
The Jack and Ada Beattie Foundation are proud to support such a programme, which promotes inclusion, aspiration and capacity building across the youth of London. Our grant enabled the Met Police to purchase football kits for the young people involved, as well as support travel to the training sessions and matches. Through this inspirational initiative, young people will be encouraged to develop better relationships with each other and the Met police who serve to keep them and us safe in the Capital.
“I have no doubt it will save life’s and prevent young people from being both victims and perpetrators, If we can prevent one murder it would eclipse a thousand convictions.”
Clive Driscoll
