In September 2024, Clifton Lodge held their annual golf day, and alongisde substantial donations to other charities, raised an incredible £1,250 for Footprints.
Footprints is a Nottingham based charity that supports children living with communication and mobility difficulties to develop life skills and to achieve their full potential.
Their work is inspired by the principles and practices of Conductive Education, a holistic education approach which focuses on potential, developed to help children living with disabilities consciously learn life skills. Their work encourages the development of physical, communication, social, sensory, self-help and thinking skills, such as sitting, standing, touching, listening, looking, eating and playing.
They work closely with the child and their family in a safe, positive and supportive environment to encourage and motivate each child's desire to achieve tasks. At the same time, they empower families, giving them the knowledge, confidence, and strength to cope with the disabilities their child lives with and understand how they can help.
Families they support have described their work as:
”Making the impossible possible, in a world of people telling children what they can’t do, the team encourage children to do everything.”
“It means the world. Without Footprints I don't think we'd be in a place as a family to feel accepting that we have a child with a disability.”
And another said, “Footprints took out the loneliness of being a parent of a child with a disability – people actually understood the challenges faced by such families.”
In a recent survey of the families they work with, 100% said that they felt well supported by Footprints, and 97% reported improved wellbeing. They regularly see 100% of the children they work with significantly improve their communication and mobility skills, which has a life changing impact.
This year, has been an exciting time for the charity as they have received the keys to their new centre, formerly the Highbank Community Centre, in Clifton. It holds incredible potential to provide greater support to more families. They estimate this will increase their capacity from working closely with 60-75 families each year, to providing intensive tailored support to 300 families, and reaching thousands of the wider community. Their vision for the space includes three session rooms, a speech and communication room, sensory room, families room, Community Inclusion Coffee Bar, two out-door sensory education zones, a community hall, accessible wet-room with hoist, and toilet classroom for teaching children this important life skill. They have begun the works needed to transform the space and to make their new home for the charity.
Recently, the Iona School, where they are currently based, announced that they are closing and the building is being sold. There is now an even greater need to complete the transformation as soon as possible, to minimise disruption to sessions, and to maintain the children’s development and the progress they have been working so hard towards.
The charity are looking for support to help them to complete the transformation. They would be grateful for any fundraising support, construction materials, or volunteer days to help create the new home for their charity. The services they provide mean the world to the children and families they work with and any support can make a huge difference.
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