PHAB LIMITED
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Mission Statement
Phab provides safe and fun places for people to feel independent, meet new friends and gain confidence, together.
About This Cause
Phab has been working to build an inclusive world for over 65 years, supporting a national network of Phab Clubs and running Phab Adventures, bringing together disabled and non-disabled people of all ages in a spirit of togetherness, fun and creating spaces and places where everyone belongs, everyone’s involved because Inclusion Is Phab. This is achieved through: A network of around 130 Phab Clubs across England and Wales for children, young people and adults, providing social activities, friendship and fun for 8,000 disabled and non-disabled members An annual programme of challenging and exciting Inclusive Living Experience (ILX) Residential Projects; known as Phab Adventures, which take place at fully accessible outdoor activity centres for disabled and disadvantaged children, young people and young adults aged 8 to 30, enabling them to gain practical, personal and social skills and increase self-esteem, confidence and independence, all whilst having a great time together Our work with schools and university students to develop Phab Clubs and holiday projects run by students. Regional and national events where Clubs and members can enjoy training workshops, fun activities and the opportunity to network and support each other. A wheelchair accessible holiday home enabling families and friends to enjoy a break away, confident that when they arrive everything will be in place to meet their needs. Our Phab Adventures Phab provides a programme of Inclusive Living Experience (ILX) Residential Projects each year; known as Phab Adventures, for around 300 disabled and disadvantaged children, young people and young adults aged 8 to 30, enjoying a whole range of challenging activities together. The children and young adults, many of them away from home for the first time, experience a week or weekend stay at fully accessible outdoor activity centres in the beautiful surroundings of the New Forest and the Lake District - an exciting and life changing experience which helps them to build their confidence, independence and self-esteem whilst learning new practical and personal skills and supporting each other through living together and, importantly, through friendship and just having fun. Some, but not all, of those children and young people are from our 140 locally based Phab Clubs across England and Wales . Children on the Phab Adventures can have complex needs and some will need the dedicated support of a special carer or two volunteers. Disabilities can include Downs Syndrome, sight or hearing loss, epilepsy, learning disabilities, Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, Asperger's Syndrome and Autism, Spina Bifida, Tourettes Syndrome, emotional and behavioural difficulties, ADHD, and acquired head injury. The exciting and challenging activities the children are able to enjoy together include climbing, abseiling, caving, canoeing, cycling, swimming, archery, basketball and table tennis, zip wire, assault course, bush craft, and a visit to the circus or the seaside – topped off with a fancy dress party, disco and karaoke at the end of their stay with us! The Projects are run at Bendrigg Lodge in the Lake District and the Avon Tyrrell Centre in the New Forest. Activities are supervised by each Centre's qualified instructors who have specialized experience of working with disabled children and young people, who are also fully supported by around 125 volunteers and one to one carers. Many of our volunteers return to help year after year. We believe that our Projects are unique in that, as well as disabled children or young adults with disabilities, we also welcome a small number of siblings and also children who are disadvantaged in some way and need the support the Projects can provide, perhaps having experienced bullying, abuse or mental health issues – fulfilling our ethos of promoting inclusion and making more of life together. We know from our involvement with parents, carers, voluntary and statutory organisations that there is an enormous need for parents and carers to get a break now and then, whilst children and young people want to do something challenging, worthwhile and fun. Families with one or more disabled children also often experience a disproportionate level of poverty due to the cost of equipment and specialist care, parents not being able to work because of their caring responsibilities, and family breakdown. Our Residential Projects provide a break for their child which most families would not be able to afford. Our Family Weekend also enables families to take a supported break away, often for the first time. Here a child can gain the confidence to join us independently in the future and parents can network and socialise together in a relaxing and supportive environment whilst their children have a wonderful time together. And our recently introduced Transition Plus Projects for young adults aged 18 to 30 now provide more places specifically for this older age group and support them at a time when their lives are changing as they leave full time education and move to an adult environment. And for families and friends who want to take a holiday together, we have a wheelchair accessible holiday home located by the sea at Waterside Holiday Park in Weymouth, Dorset, with its great facilities. Our Phab Clubs Our network of 140 locally run Phab Clubs, with over 8,000 members and volunteers, make a real difference to the lives of disabled and non-disabled people of all ages. Our Clubs are very special in that we welcome disabled and non-disabled people who enjoy and share all the activities together, with friends, siblings and whole families joining in. Throughout the year, local Clubs will be having a real impact on social and family isolation, reducing loneliness of individual members, positively improving mental and physical well-being, and increasing confidence, self-esteem and independence for all involved. Many members will have physical, learning or sensory disabilities, often with complex needs, and many of them will have volunteer roles at their Club, helping their fellow members or running the Clubs as Committee Members and Club Leaders. We are a small staff team at Phab with just six full time and three part-time staff. Together we work hard to: • Help local Clubs to achieve standards laid down by Phab to ensure they are well run, safe for members and volunteers, and sustainable • Develop new Phab Clubs within and with local communities to meet identified need • Assist in promoting Clubs so they can attract members and volunteers • Provide Clubs with their own dedicated Club website and appropriate training • Provide training support and advice to Club Leaders and volunteers • Arrange regional and national events which will bring Clubs and members together • Ensure DBS checks are carried out for volunteers and that insurances are in place • Step in to help and advise on safeguarding and any other issues and problems arising • Advise Clubs on fundraising and planning for the future • Help Clubs to evolve and handle change effectively and sensitively • Promote volunteering amongst young people • Encourage members to take on different volunteer roles at Clubs and Projects An important part of our work is our active and ongoing collaboration with schools to inspire volunteering amongst young people and provide even more opportunities for disabled people. This is all part of a new and growing programme at Phab to develop Clubs and Residential Projects in schools - breaking down community barriers, building friendships and just having great fun together. • Westminster School, Merchant Taylors’ and St. Helen’s Schools in Middlesex, and Aldenham School in Hertfordshire organise residential fun Phab Weeks or Weekends each year hosted by their students • Merchant Taylors’ and St. Helen’s Schools also run their own Phab Club • Wellington College, which ran its own Phab Week for many years, has continued to actively support Phab’s Clubs and Residential Projects • Eton College opened its own Phab Club in 2018 run by their students jointly with those from Heathfield School in Ascot and Eden School in Slough • Sydenham High students along with students from Thomas Grant School and Virgo Fidelis School, and also Framlingham College in Suffolk, opened their new Phab Clubs in 2020 And all those students take their Phab experience into their future lives, at university, in their work and local communities, with Phab Clubs open at Universities in Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol.