Member Article

Ringtons support young people out-of-school activities

An award of £4,750 from the Ringtons Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland is helping young people keep busy through Wecan.

Wecan, based in Hexham, Northumberland, is a local charity that provides school holiday activities and term time Saturday clubs for children and young people aged 6-19 years with learning and physical disabilities, challenging behaviour, autistic spectrum disorders and sensory impairment. It is a service for over 50 local families, enabling the children and young people to access a range of community-based leisure activities with support.

Social and leisure activities for young people with disabilities can often be hard to access, but thanks to support from Newcastle tea and coffee company Ringtons, Wecan has been able to support more young people and their families.

Hayley Armstrong, Project Manager at Wecan explains: “Often during long breaks such as summer or over half term it is particularly difficult for families with a disabled child to access appropriate activities and specialist care support to meet the youngsters’ often complex needs.

“Thanks to the donation from Ringtons, our team of trained and experienced staff and volunteers have been able to support children and young people by improving staff rations to match the needs of the child. Being able to help the children socialise and enjoy many mainstream activities just like other children and young people is very important and we would like to thank Ringtons for their support in enabling us to do this.”

Mike Rowell, Ringtons Community Fund Trustee said: “Wecan is a wonderful organisation that is providing a whole host of activities for young people with a disability. As a company we have a long history of donating to various local charitable causes and we are passionate about continuing to do so by helping more people in the community access the support they need.”

Gill Lowing, Senior Philanthropy Advisor at the Community Foundation added: “Ringtons is a prime example of a responsible business which really cares about the communities in which it operates. From supporting tea workers in Africa to supporting local projects such as Wecan in Hexham, Ringtons is making a fantastic effort to ensure that people of all ages can take part in activities or access services that can change their lives.”

Ringtons established an endowment fund at the Community Foundation in 1996 to ensure that the local community benefits from funding in perpetuity. The purpose of the fund is to support families, women, older people, those with disabilities and disadvantaged people.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adam Lopardo .