How it all began
Gordon Parris was Mayor of Surrey Heath from May 1995 to May 1996 and, with his wife Ann, founded a charity to benefit from his committee's fund raising efforts.
Liz Turner, Founder committee member and Patron, explains how the Children With Special Needs Foundation began:
"We wanted a charity that would help local people and avoid us getting entangled in a large impersonal charity. Local children with special needs became our target. This can mean a child with a disability or a very special talent that would not be fulfilled without help.To ensure we targeted the right groups we formed a committee to investigate the need in our area.
"None of us realised at the start how great the need is. When the group met we formed a rapport that brought an enthusiasm to every fund-raising activity and led to some close new friendships. The original idea was to support Gordon, a hugely charismatic figure, and run the charity with maximum effort for a year. But it just took off ..."
In fact, the charity raised over £180,000 in less than a year! The "Three Peaks Challenge" alone raised more than £40,000 in sponsorship, and involved Gordon, friends, council employees and committee members in climbing the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in 24 hours.The committee were impressed at the financial support from local businesses. "It opened our eyes to the fact that people prefer to donate to local causes - they can see the benefits themselves," Liz explained. " We visited local schools, hospitals and community centres to find out exactly what was needed, and that information provided a focus for the funds."
The Home Counties is known for the transient nature of its population and we lack, in parts of the Borough, the village community atmosphere more commonly found in the North. As a result people who would like to get involved helping others often do not know where to start. The Children With Special Needs Foundation provided a lot of people with the impetus and direction they were looking for.
Liz's family has also got involved in the charity taking the children on family outings and learning a valuable lesson in caring for others. "As a result of this charity work my children are more aware of their advantages in life, and of how others' have to manage.
The advantages of keeping the charity small are two-fold: administrative costs are low and the internal politics and problems of a large charity are avoided.
We are very conscious that we must also include exceptionally talented children in our definition of 'special needs', so we will still try to keep a cross-section of recipients."
"None of this could be achieved without the donations and sponsorships of our local people and businesses," said Liz.
