Rob Armstrong is a successful businessman and entrepreneur from Newcastle. Working his way up through the tough business world from an even tougher upbringing in a part of the city suffering from severe social depravation, Rob now has some of the most widely respected and successful businesses in the North East. Amongst his businesses he has directorships at LA Taxis and recently sold his share in employment specialists MTrec Recruitment.
Here, we learn about Rob’s passion for helping the children at a Newcastle school.
Hadrian School in Benwell, Newcastle looks after some of the most severely disabled children in the North East and Rob has literally put his heart and soul into helping them get the best educational experience that they can.
Rob started his association with the school more than 15 years ago when he replaced computers that were stolen by callous thieves. Ever since, he has been a driving force in fundraising both personally and through his many business connections.
Now, he is putting his fund raising efforts into attracting new donations such as a recent one for £10,000 from the Graham Wylie Foundation. The latest batch of money will go towards the construction of a new rebound therapy area with training suite and a music studio.
The new build is about to begin in earnest with early foundation work already started with the main works scheduled to begin in January with completion by the Summer of 2017.
The centre will house six trampolines and related therapy resources to enable Rebound Therapy to take place six days a week from 9:00am until 8:00pm for the benefit of pupils from Hadrian School and for those with additional needs of all ages in Newcastle and across the region. Sports England has also generously supported the project for the benefit of the disabled community.
Rob has been the main sponsor and driver of the project from day one and has used his business connections and friends to help with the fundraising machine. Whether it was encouraging others to buy tickets for Summer Balls or donating auction prizes and raffles, Rob has made it his passion to look after the youngsters at the school. He also raffled off his Newcastle United box at St James’ Park on a number of occasions too raising many thousands of pounds. It s estimated that Rob has sourced somewhere in the region of £450,000 for the school.
Head Teacher Chris Rollings has nothing but praise for Rob’s generosity.
“Were it not for Rob, this project would have remained a distant dream. Rob has a generous spirit, a kind heart, a real sense of his roots and knows how lucky he is to have been given the life chances he has. He knows that our children are some of the most vulnerable children in the city and he wants to make a difference. Our school motto is ‘Together we make a difference’ and with Rob’s help, support and friendship that is about to happen on a massive scale with a legacy that will continue to make a massive difference to the lives of those less able for years to come. This will be part of Rob’s legacy and one we are proud to partner.”
Indeed, the school have shown their gratitude by naming the new centre, the Rob Armstrong Centre for Rebound Therapy, an honour that Rob was proud to accept.
“It makes me very humble when I see the children in the school,” he said. “I watch the way Chris and his team work with them to ensure that they receive the very best care, support and education.
“There is a tremendous amount of good work going on now and when the centre is complete it will be the best Rebound Therapy Training Centre in the UK. The project will allow the school to train teachers, physiotherapists, teaching and learning assistants, occupational therapists, sports coaches, care staff, special needs and support staff to be excellent Rebound Therapy coaches. They will also work closely with parents to train them to be able to support their own children with Rebound Therapy programmes.
“I’m delighted to have been a part of the future of this school and I’ll continue to make things better for everyone if it’s at all possible because after all the children deserve the best treatment and education that we can give.”
