Home Farm Trust Bedfordshire - Lisa Harrison

Tue, Jul 24th 2018 at 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm


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Hft is one of the largest and longest-established charities supporting people with learning disabilities.

About Hft


Everyone has a right to the best life possible and that includes people with learning disabilities. But people with learning disabilities face obstacles that are hard to imagine – their challenges can be complex and lifelong. Even so, with the right care, support and encouragement, we believe everyone with a learning disability can find more enjoyment, comfort and satisfaction in their lives.

That’s why everything we do is centred on the people we support. Our Fusion Model of Support ensures that we focus on the specific needs of each individual, being creative about the kind of personal care and support we offer. We work hard to understand their changing needs and provide services and support that make a real difference to their lives.

As one of the largest and longest-established charities supporting people with learning disabilities, we are able to invest our knowledge in our staff. We help them to develop the specialist skills and expertise needed to provide the kind of support we believe in. And we try to make sure they always have the time it takes to build trusted, caring relationships with the people and families they support.

Our services range from residential care and day opportunities to supported living/domiciliary care at home – from a few hours a week to 24 hours a day. We provide support that means people with learning disabilities can experience life to the full – from enjoyment, satisfaction and improved health to finding meaningful relationships or paid employment. Our commitment goes beyond being just a high quality support provider.

Hft is a registered charity.

www.hft.org.uk


Vote of Thanks by Rotarian Alan Porter

The Club welcomed Lisa Harrison on a warm – very warm – Tuesday evening where, despite the presence of a damsel as our main guest and speaker, dress code had been relaxed almost to the point of indecency with jackets and ties cast aside and the questionable hint of male cleavages becoming evident.

Lisa talked on HFT, perhaps better known in the past as The Home Farm Trust.  A national charity dedicated to the help and support of those who are have learning difficulties, Lisa is one of the main fund raisers for this organisation, travelling from Warwickshire to be with us for the evening.

With about 1.4m folk in the UK with learning disabilities of one sort or another, the overall task is more than daunting.  The Trust is heavily involved in campaigning for rights and benefits for the disadvantaged that it serves and of course is raising money all of the time to bring the support that it also give directly to those for whom it cares.

Much of the help is by way of targeted assistance very much tailored to the individuals in question.  By bringing even relatively small but much welcomed assistance to an individual, that person regains much confidence and self esteem which leads to a more fulfilled and purposeful life in the community.  It was clear from Lisa’s address that the role of many of the supporters and volunteers working within the HFT organisation was heavily focused upon recognition of the individual needs of those that they serve.  If these can be properly and sympathetically identified, huge benefits can be obtained through such care and concern and possibly at low financial cost.

Naturally, not all of the help offered can be done on a financial shoestring.  HFT run a variety of residential homes of one sort and another, often in collaboration with local authorities and sometimes involving social housing by way of accommodation.  In Bedfordshire some 104 people are assisted in various ways by the Trust.

Lisa’s talk was augmented by the President whose brother has been greatly helped by the Trust over many years.  This personal window into the work of the Trust gave Lisa’s address special meaning.  She was thanked by Alan Porter on behalf of the Club, both for her address and also for coming so far to see us on a very warm evening.

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