wakeham trust - who we are

We gave £350 to a group of elderly and disabled volunteers to enable them to open a café for children where they can meet friends and have a bite to eat. The café was situated in the poorest area of town; it had to relocate because the previous building didn’t have access to drains that could support a disabled toilet. The money was used to buy books, CDs and videos for a reading corner and a TV/video room. Additional money was raised through their charity shop and raffles.

£200 was given to buy tools and equipment for a community garden in Kings Cross, London. The plot was rescued by the local community when attempts were made to sell it for office space in 1981. The garden offers horticulture therapy for adults with special needs, the elderly, a children’s gardening club and children’s plots.

Three young people in Leamington Spa wrote to us because they were trying to set up a youth club. There was nowhere locally for them to meet and they used to hang around the shops. We gave them £250 to help set up the club in an old Scout hut.

We gave an unemployed ex-professional footballer in Yorkshire £50 to buy footballs and equipment for a group of 100 or so tough kids to play football.

We gave a Residents’ Association £350 towards tools and set-up costs to develop a garden on the four sides of a tower block which contains 42 flats. The garden provides an oasis from the concrete block – they planned to purchase a couple of benches and bird nesting boxes.

A retired cinema projectionist and his disabled wife got £115 for a second 16mm camera projector and table so they could continue to tour giving free film shows for retired and disabled people.

A Furniture Reclaimation and Delivery Enterprise in Stockton-on-Tees was formed in 1990 to collect unwanted furniture and pass it on to those who need furniture. We gave them £500 to purchase power and hand tools in order to do minor repairs and refurbishment and therefore hand the furniture on in good condition. Two volunteers with joinery qualifications carried out the repairs.

A group in Cornwall were given £200 to buy toy boxes to put in areas where under 5s are likely to have to wait, such as DHSS offices. The project was strongly recommended by the local Oxfam organiser.

A small Nottingham village with a total population of 160 wanted to start a post office shop. We gave them £280 to pay for things such as partitions and a safe and then the Post Office agreed to help and pay for one employee.

The Kaiama (Ekpein) Community Association in south London wanted to start up a project for children of West African origin. The project aimed to help children with their schoolwork to try to reduce the risk of truancy and crime and to encourage them with a sense of self-help and community development. We gave them £250 towards total costs of about £500.

A Lodgers Group wanted to set up a scheme in Bristol where young people in need of housing are placed in accommodation by encouraging householders to let rooms in their homes. We gave them £250 towards a small honorarium for a part-time fieldworker and to fund advertising in order to let householders and homeless young people know about the service.

Martin Youth Bikers were given £150 to pay for a water supply and a 3 phase electricity supply to continue top-class engineering work so the bikes they raced could be prepared for competitions. Some of the 17 members of the group hope to develop skills that will be useful when they leave school.

Music Experience is a voluntary group that aims to encourage participation in music. We gave them £160 to buy an electric guitar to join a pool of instruments to be let out for a nominal fee to young people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to musical instrument.