The Percy Hedley Foundation was first created by parents in 1953, as a special school for 12 children with cerebral palsy. Molly and Stephen Darke campaigned for the school after their son, Stephen, was born with the condition, and so started their mission to help their child reach his full potential.
We’ve continued with that mission, and over the years we have extended and developed the work we do to make sure children, young people and adults with a range of disabilities get the best specialist care, education and support.
In 2023 we turn 70 years old, and we now support over 650 members and their families every week from across the North East, across two schools, a college, an adult learning programme and four specialist residential homes.
For the last two years, our dedicated key workers, including carers, teachers, therapists, and support staff; have worked tirelessly through a global pandemic to ensure each member of the Foundation received high-quality care. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, from staff shortages to a decrease in fundraising activity, we pushed through with our members being at the heart of what we do. In 2021 our teams delivered over 1.2 million hours of special education, care and therapy.
In 2022 alone, we’ve been working towards some exciting projects. One of our schools became the first school in the north of England to have an Innowalk; a piece of life-changing equipment that is a is a powerful 3-in-1 device for sitting, standing and moving, particularly for people who would be unable to stand on their own. We also joined Northumbria Police in their first ever police cadet group for students with special educational needs and partnered with local artist James Dixon from Lines Behind to create a built for purpose, contemporary lunch café for our college students.
We don’t want our progress to stop here. For our 70th birthday we’re planning some of our biggest events yet. In February we’re hosting our bigger and better annual Percy Hedley Ball, where businesses and companies can get involved for an evening full of glitz and glamour with a drinks reception, followed by an amazing five course meal and fantastic entertainment throughout the evening. In September, we’ll also have our largest ever #TeamPercyHedley taking part in the Great North Run to raise vital funds, and we’re encouraging as many people as possible to join us.
Want more ways to get involved? We’re looking for incredible North-East businesses to make us their charity of the year to mark our 70th birthday. This partnership can have a longlasting impact on your business as well as our charity. It’s an opportunity to unite your staff behind an inspiring cause and to demonstrate your company’s commitment to making a difference in your community. From skydiving and ziplines to volunteering, servicing our vehicles to donating a percentage of sales, we would love to discuss the many ways we can work together and help deliver amazing experiences for the 650 families we support every week