THE LEONARD LAITY STOATE CHARITABLE TRUST
NOVEMBER 2006
SELECTED CASE HISTORIES
Here are some brief details of a few of the projects we helped in 2005-06.
Fernheath Play Association, Bournemouth
Describing themselves as an open-access Play Centre, running for 27 years and open every day, they were working towards full inclusion for disabled children as well. They had a number of outdoor play structures, but wanted to add one that would be accessible to all children, known as the "Mariner". The cost of the structure was £15,800, and we agreed to contribute £1,000 in July 2004. As is usually the case, the grant was payable when the rest of the money had been raised, achieved a year later. The "Mariner" was officially opened by the Mayor of Bournemouth in October 2005.
Somerset Association for the Blind, Taunton
SAB supports over 3,200 blind and visually impaired people throughout Somerset. The Association has a resource centre at Northfield House in Taunton, selling living aids to those affected with the aid of a demonstration area allowing clients to try out equipment before purchase. They came to us with a "shopping list" of small projects including the installation of a hearing loop, needed as many clients are also hearing-impaired. We contributed £500 towards the cost of £1,380.
The Magdalen Project, Chard
This is a residential education centre based on an organic farm on the Somerset/Dorset border. They wanted to construct a straw bale meeting room as demonstration of sustainable architecture. It would have straw bale walls with a lime mortar render, and a rammed earth floor. The room would be available for community hire, and courses provided on straw bale construction. We gave £500 towards the cost of construction, estimated at £14,000.
Watchet Phoenix Centre
About 50 years ago Marjorie, the wife of Leonard's brother John, gave some land to the Watchet Red Cross for a headquarters, the building costs of which were raised by the townsfolk. The headquarters had been used thereafter for training and for highly successful twice-weekly luncheon clubs for the lonely or disadvantaged of the locality. The Red Cross then announced that following a review it was going to close the Watchet branch (and others) and sell the site.
This sparked a huge furore in the town, resulting in a very well attended (Geoffrey and Joy included, hence the detailed history!) meeting in May 2004. At the meeting it was agreed that a new charitable body would be formed to run the luncheon club initially, expanding later into more general welfare work in the community. The charity, to be known as Watchet Phoenix, would be able to rent the premises from the Red Cross at a reasonable rent.
There was no shortage of volunteers, but the charity would start with virtually no funds. Geoffrey referred the case to the trust, and a grant of £1,000 was awarded towards their start-up costs, paid as soon as their charity registration was effective.
Brainwave, Bridgwater
Brainwave is a national centre supporting children who have both physical and cognitive disabilities, whether through brain damage or genetic abnormality. There is an additional therapy centre in Ireland and satellite clinics in Scotland. One of the main features of the Bridgwater centre is its hydrotherapy pool. The trust has supported the centre regularly in recent years, giving £1,000 in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2005 we left it to Brainwave to decide to what the money should be put - the children's therapy programme.
Tree Aid, Bristol
Both Leonard as founder, and Tom as a substantial contributor, were both firm believers in the epithet that "charity begins at home". For this reason, the vast majority of grants go to projects in the South West of England. However, the trustees do support a couple of overseas projects. Tree Aid assists local communities in Africa to plant sustainable forests, which can be used in ways too numerous to list here. In this case our grant of £500 went to the Hidi Rasa Tree Nursery project in Ethiopia, under which 75,000 seedlings were raised and planted in 9 neighbouring communities.
