THE LEXICON CHARITY FUND ROUND 2
As part of its fifth birthday celebrations, The Lexicon is delighted to announce that it has donated five awards, each worth £5,000, to five local community groups, through The Lexicon Charity Fund.
Stepping Stones receives £5,000 to boost their educational outreach to mainstream and special needs primary and secondary schools. Stepping Stones DS helps children and young people with Down Syndrome fulfil their potential by providing opportunities to be social, have fun and learn.
Alex Brewer – CEO
"We are thrilled to have received this generous grant from The Lexicon. The money will be used to help fund our school outreach services which provide educational support to children aged 5 to 16 across Bracknell Forest. This is a key pillar in our aim to help children with Down syndrome fulfil their potential. The value is best expressed by our families who have said:
“It is so helpful and reassuring to get another supportive and understanding perspective of what is happening in the classroom. It’s made transition into school so much easier. We can’t thank you enough.”
“Just so wonderful to have someone else really ‘see’ Amy and her potential.”
ABC to Read receives £5,000 to recruit and train new volunteer mentors to help children aged five to 11 who are struggling with their reading. They currently work with 14 schools in Bracknell but need to recruit more volunteers to meet the demand in those schools. The volunteer mentors work one-to-one with children, to build their confidence and reading skills.
Marcia Rowlinson - CEO
“We are thrilled to gain the vital and generous support from Lexicon which has enabled us to recruit, train and support new volunteers who will be able to support so many children with our reading sessions, continuing our commitment to schools and the children we support.
We know that one-to-one, face-to-face teaching is the best method to support children, particularly if they have barriers to their learning, and we are delighted to be able to reach more local children from the recruitment of the new volunteers as well as providing training into secondary schools so that older students, parent helpers are able to help us raise literacy attainment and school cohesion.”
Age Concern Bracknell Forest receives £5,000 to purchase ‘Activitouch’ interactive tables for its Day Centre. The interactive tables will help keep elderly minds active, with online games to help their memory and cognitive skills. In addition to specialist dementia care and support, the Day Centre also runs a weekly community group to combat and reduce social isolation.
Andrew Eltham – CEO
Age Concern Bracknell Forest has been at the heart of supporting elderly people and those diagnosed with dementia since opening the doors of it’s specialist Day Centre in 1994. The Lexicon funding is helping us at the Day Centre utilise technology to offer something truly unique to those most in need. We are purchasing the ‘Activitouch’ table which is a large tablet system designed specifically for those with dementia. A decline in cognitive functioning can impair many older adults' ability to carry out cognitively demanding processes.
This new piece of technology has a variety of lovely sensory and alzheimer/dementia targeted apps, which incorporate simple use of colour and interactive elements. These apps can significantly reduce confusion and increase ease of use. We hope this technology will give our members a more enjoyable and pleasurable experience whilst we care for them (and providing vital respite for carers). In addition we hope the more we offer will attract more people to access our service. All of this would not of been possible without the support of this funding”.
Chance to Dance Stars receives £5,000 to hold monthly activity workshops for children and young adults with a physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional and/or developmental disability. The workshops aim to improve students’ physical and mental health, build confidence, and provide opportunities to learn new skills and socialise with peers.
Victoria Andrews - Director
"Chance to Dance Stars are so grateful to The Lexicon for their support. As a small charity getting recognised means the world. Our students and residents of Bracknell are over the moon to bring our services and activities from Reading to Bracknell. Our families aged 3 to adulthood, all from the disabled community, are excited to try new activities, build upon communication skills and social experiences.
It also provides a safe space for many students and much needed respite for families. We hope to reach as many families in Bracknell as we cannot matter the limitations.”
Berks County FC receives £5,000 to run free weekly football sessions for children with additional needs that can’t access the club’s mainstream sessions. The award will also go towards supporting parents that can’t afford the associated costs with playing football.
Wayne Cannon - Assistant Club Secretary
“Berks County FC started life as two community football clubs that both had very similar philosophies – to have fun, keeping fit, whilst playing football with friends. Sunninghill Saints began with 2 teams made up from local primary schools whilst at the same time Bracknell Rovers were a club with two junior teams and adult team. The combining of clubs to create a larger youth section with a clearer pathway to adult football made perfect sense. Now over a decade later the club continues to go from strength to strength.
The funds from The Lexicon will enable us to set up a Football school in Bracknell that will be free to attend aimed mainly at the younger age groups and the funds will also supports the club's inclusive sessions offering, children a chance to play football away from the mainstream pressures.”
Sue Boor, head of marketing at The Lexicon says: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to support these local community groups as part of our fifth birthday celebrations. A big thank you to visitors to The Lexicon who have helped to raise money for our charity fund by attending our events over the past two years.”
The fund is managed in conjunction with Berkshire Community Foundation [Charity Number: 1155173], an independent charity that connects local people with local causes and projects.
Jon Yates, chief executive at Berkshire Community Foundation says: ““We congratulate The Lexicon on their fifth birthday and have been delighted to work with the wonderful people there to deliver these awards.
“The five groups receiving the funding cover a range of social, educational and physical needs for young and old alike. I look forward to seeing the impact these awards will make to the lives of many people and also to the continued success of the Lexicon. Here’s to the next five years and beyond.”
