Thomley Activity Centre

Anthony is riding across Britain for Thomley!

27 May, 2010

Here at Thomley we are always amazed at the challenges people set themselves and very grateful for the generosity of people who chose to raise money for Thomley at the same time.

Anthony Livingstone is taking part in The Ride Across Britain (www.rideacrossbritain.com) which takes place over nine days. He will be following the route from John O’Groats to Land’s End and cycling a mammoth distance of 115 miles a day! His first ride starts at the crack of dawn on Saturday 12th June in Scotland, and finishes with a well deserved party on Sunday 20th June in Cornwall – a chance for all the riders to pat themselves on the back and celebrate crossing the finish line!

Anthony has set up a Just Giving page and is hoping to raise lots of money for Thomley while taking part in a truly incredible endurance event.

“Many people have been kind enough to ask if I’m raising money and to offer to sponsor me, so it seems a shame to let the opportunity to pass by without helping a worthy cause. After some thought  I have decided to raise money for Thomley Activity Centre, a recreational facility for disabled children and their families located quite close to where we live in Oakley. When Jane and I were in Ealing we lived next door to a lady who was bringing up on her own a teenage boy who was severely autistic, and we saw at fairly close quarters just how challenging life can be for families in those circumstances.” - Anthony Livingstone

To sponsor Anthony, visit www.justgiving.com/Anthony-Livingstone-RideAcrossBritain

Cokethorpe pupils have been fundraising for Thomley…

26 May, 2010

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to the pupils and staff of Cokethorpe Junior School in Witney who recently took part in a sponsored walk in aid of Thomley and the Footsteps Foundation.

Collecting a sticker at each half kilometre checkpoint, one child managed twelve and a half kilometres in the hour and the youngest children managed three and a half kilometres each. The total distance covered by staff and pupils was an amazing 460 miles - further than from Cokethorpe to Paris!

The final amount raised was a fantastic £2800 and Maureen Marchbank who organised the school event said, “The children really enjoyed the challenge and were even more thrilled to be able to hand over cheques of £1400 each to our two chosen charities.”

Cokethorpe pupils having fun & raising funds!

February half term fun!

25 February, 2010

Thomley entered 2010 with lots of snow and not so much fun! Although it was worth the wait with February half term offering lots of excitement for families and groups.

We had a very successful cheer leading workshop, lots of fancy dress outfits, a superhero workshop and even some days of sunshine to top off a great week!

Our first Monday opening proved to be a great success; reducing waiting lists and getting as many people through the gates as our capacity allows! The week saw 357 children out of a possible 360 attending Thomley; so a very busy week!

A big thank you to all families who notified us that they couldn’t make it, this enabled families on the waiting list to attend

Thomley on The One Show (BBC1)

3 November, 2009

On Monday 2nd November, Thomley’s work was showcased on ‘The One Show’.

The One Show is featuring a number of projects funded by BBC Children in Need. BBC Children in Need feel that Thomley’s crucial work with disabled children and their families highlights the success of the projects they fund. This short film features a Sandy Arnold and her two autistic sons Joseph and Adam, who are regular visitors to Thomley. To see this programme, click here.

Thomley’s inspiring musical talent

6 October, 2009

Chris & Barnaby Beck perform ‘This is The Life’,  a song they wrote and recorded about their times together. We were so inspired by this video that we would like to share it with you. Click here to see their wonderful perfomance.

Perhaps to inspire you to join us in a project led by Chris called ‘Words and Wine’….

Hello, my name is Chris Beck and I visit Thomley Hall with my son Barnaby. I am working with Claire and Milly on a new ‘Creative’ project and I would be delighted to hear from other parents, siblings, family members and carers who have first-hand experience of living, knowing and working with children/young people who have disabilities.

I would like to invite you to join me, in creating a ‘Book of Awareness’ entitled ‘That’s how it is’  to be filled with words, poetry, songs, sketches and illustrations written and created by families who know ‘How it is’. Inspired by our children, not only will this project/book allow us to share our experiences but also offer insight and awareness to those who may not truly understand.

You may like to write just one line of thought, a rhyme or a poem. It could be a song, a small pencil sketch or cartoon…it really doesn’t matter as long as it relates to your experience of ‘how it is’ for you. Submissions can of course, be anonymous.

The proposed planning of this project goes something like this!

1. I will be introducing myself to you at ‘Family Days’ and ‘Dads and Male Carers Days’ to hear your ideas and thoughts, and hopefully to inspire you all to join in.

2. We plan to hold a ‘Words and Wine’ evening which will be an opportunity to share a glass of wine together, be introduced to this exciting new venture and to hear a few words written or a couple of songs sung.

3.      (A few months down the road) we will stage a ‘That’s how it is’ event to share ALL the work created to date. Finally ALL work/submissions will be collated and our book - ‘That’s how it is’ will then be printed and published and ready to share with the world!

Apart from sharing ‘That’s how it is’ with all those people we know, it can of course be sold as a book, becoming a great ‘gift of awareness’ and raising some much needed and deserved funds for our well loved Thomley Hall.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to meeting you all and hopefully working together to create and compile our very own book of awareness.

Please start now - any thoughts and words that come to mind - write them down.

Many thanks and very best wishes to you all

Chris

Edd and Ben the Marathon Men complete their 310 mile challenge

31 August, 2009

On Saturday, Edd Nieburg and Ben Halliwell completed a gruelling 12 marathons in 13 days to raise funds for Thomley. Over 310 miles from their starting point, Edd and Ben ran back through Thomley’s gates, welcomed by 200 people attending our annual open day.

“A year ago, Edd contacted me to say that he and his friend Ben were planning to run to raise £20,000 for Thomley. True to their word, they trained for a year, took 2 weeks off work, gritted their teeth through hoards of blisters, horrible hills and excruciating nightly physio sessions. I am so impressed with what they have achieved and very relieved they are back in one piece. So far they have raised over £8,700 for Thomley. We are incredibly grateful for their support as this year has been financially tougher than most to raise the £250,000 necessary to keep the centre running”. Claire Acworth

“The first couple of days were really hard. I think the second day was the hardest, as we didn’t really know what to expect. The last few days were bad, as we were so close to finishing and we knew we had to get through it. I’m glad it’s over with. We both took two weeks’ annual leave, which we could have spent on a beach in Spain!” - Edd Nieburg

“I don’t think we really knew what to expect. The first week was tough on the body. At some points we were thinking of packing it in. After day 10 the body was saying ‘that’s enough’, but we pushed on. I was quite relieved at the end of it. We were welcomed back at Thomley by a huge gathering, as it was their open day” - Ben Halliwell

Along the way they gained support from Michael Heseltine (Former Deputy Prime Minister), Ed Vaizey (MP), Ken Bruce (Radio 2 Presenter and Patron to Thomley), Rory Bremner (Comedian), John Howell (MP) and Bryan Steel (Olympic cycling medallist and Sports Ambassador to Thomley).

To sponsor Edd and Ben, visit www.justgiving.com/thegreatcrosscountry or read more about their challenge on www.thegreatcrosscountryrun.co.uk

Break in at Thomley

23 April, 2009

Unfortunately, in January 2009, Thomley staff arrived back to work to find that burst pipes had caused a very destructive flood in the eating area. To add insult to injury, in March thieves heartlessly broke the door down and caused yet further damage to this same building to steal the dehumidifiers which were drying the area.

Both of these incidences have rendered the building completely out of action; an area which had previously been used by up to 120 visitors per day to sit down together and eat lunch. The area is also used for cooking and food preparation projects which help to develop the life skills of disabled children. Claire Acworth (Director) said, “There are so few places that disabled children can go to join in with and enjoy play activities. We are horrified that the thieves had so little conscience that they targeted a charity providing such valuable support to disabled children. These two disastrous events have not only made our eating area unusable, but have diverted precious staff time away from providing direct support to disabled children as well as urgently needed fundraising work. We are therefore appealing to the general public to help support our work.”

By forcing entry into another building, the thieves also stole a lawnmower which had been kindly loaned to Thomley by Kubota of Thame.

Thomley is urgently appealing for funds to get the eating and kitchen area up and running again as the insurance payment will not cover all the necessary work which includes improvements. To support this work, visit our webpage http://thomleyactivitycentre.org/support-us/online-giving/

We would like to say a big thank you to those who have supported us so far. Every penny counts, thank you.

Canteen Flood!

7 February, 2009

The canteen has been temporarily relocated due to a flood. The smaller space available may affect eating times, so please call the office if you have any concerns. We hope this will not disrupt our normal service in any way, but we will keep you updated.

A new website at last…

1 December, 2008

Finally we have found time to redesign our website. We hope that you find it informative, interesting, accessible… and everything else you want it to be! Most of all, we hope that it inspires you to come and visit us, or to support the valuable work we are doing. If there is anything you think we should add or remove, please let us know…