We first supported the wonderful Poole-based Diverse Abilities charity, that helps children and adults with physical and learning difficulties, by donating to its Coping with CHAOS service. Our donation of £2,177 allowed children to benefit from Splash ‘n’ Bounce pool sessions.
Each session gave the children 45 minutes in the pool with one-to-one care, followed by fun on the bouncy castle. Swimming and bouncing are two of the children’s favourite activities as they feel like any other child in the water as their mobility improves with the extra buoyancy. Feedback from the charity stated that the children all enjoyed this activity and benefitted from it by a growth in confidence, as well as through fun and friendship. It meant an awful lot to the children and their parents to be able to get out, meet other families and make some new friends.
Through this type of activity, all the children feel included and benefit from being given the opportunity to regularly participate in positive activities that help them to develop their personality, self-confidence and ultimately be as independent as possible. One parent described the sessions as being: “a lifeline to mine and many more families.”
Langside School in Poole is another Diverse Abilities operation. It is a special charity run school for pupils aged 2 to 19 with profound and multiple learning disabilities and complex medical needs. Music is known to be a very useful medium as it reaches and engages all the children. We are thrilled to have been able to donate £1,876 to fund a new Outdoor Musical Garden.
When we visited the school we were amazed at the level of care shown by all the staff and feel privileged to be able to support the school with this donation.