Suffolk: Disabled children’s charity forced to close
A disabled children’s charity has been forced to close its doors due to lack of funding, it can be revealed today.
Michael Wood, the chairman of charity out & about, which has been helping disabled children and young people take part in leisure activities for the last 20 years, admitted it could not solve its financial problems and had to shut down.
Based in Claydon, the organisation has seen its income plummet due to reduction in its funding, and despite ambitious plans to raise more cash, it has been unable to fill the gulf caused by the swingeing cuts.
All of the charity’s 16 paid staff have been made redundant.
Mr Wood said: “It’s sad that out & about will no longer be able to make a significant impact on the lives of disabled children and young people.
“We have, as a board and management team, explored all the options to solve our financial problems but in the current economic climate it has proved incredibly difficult. We would like to thank all our supporters, volunteers and colleagues who have worked with us.
“We are very proud of everything out & about has achieved.”
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out & about began in 1984 as a small project within Suffolk Physically Disabled and Able Bodied club supporting disabled children in home, leisure and school settings. It was registered as a charity in 1996.
Over the course of its history, it has helped hundreds of disabled children and young people to reach their full potential and become fully included in their choice of everyday leisure activity alongside their non-disabled peers.
The charity has recently developed a series of practical and community focused life skill programmes for disabled young people aged 13-plus, helping them to develop the skills they need in the transition to adulthood.
