Caudwell Children’s Charity

Creating new pathways

No matter what challenges we face in life, we all need support to overcome them. For children with disabilities, challenges can be more apparent, but great work is being done to change that. Leicestershire and Rutland have nearly 22,000 children with disabilities or special education needs (Leicester City Council, April 2020). This makes up 13.7% of our overall school population, which is just under the national average of 14.8%.

Trudi Beswick has been CEO of Caudwell Children since its inception in 2000. As they have to date supported over 700 types of conditions, for Trudi, it’s not about one organisation – it’s about nationwide collaboration with other organisations to ensure every need is met.

“We support young people across the country – including Leicester. We ensure that the children and families are reaching their own goals that they’ve set themselves.

What we do is about providing support and creating new services that enable children to achieve their ambitions.”

The charity works with young people aged 0-25,

Caudwell Children helps them throughout childhood. The children are encouraged not to accept limitations, with many going on to international sporting competitions, careers in the arts, or whatever else they wish to do.

“We’re a pan-disability charity, supporting both physical For children living with disabilities, finding the right support is vital. Caudwell Children is a national charity with a local heart, aiming to bring assistance to families in need, and give children the best possible future. CEO Trudi Beswick told us more

WORDS BY TOM YOUNG

and neurodiverse conditions. Every service we deliver is built with the families based on their needs, and the needs of their community. If we don’t have a service – because we’re not the biggest charity, and every penny we spend is gained through fundraising – it can require working through other organisations. We’ll refer children onto them and help with applications.”

It’s a selfless approach, that ensures the needs of the child, and their family takes precedence. It’s about working collectively to make the biggest difference.

“We’ve got great benefactors who have put their money together with us and other organisations to see that it goes further and fills any potential service gap. We’re also working with universities to train more psychologists, occupational therapists, and other roles we all know we need more of.”

They also work with businesses to develop their equality, diversity and inclusion – it helps both society and their bottom line.

“If you understand people, your business will be more intuitive, and you’ll earn more money. It’s more than just ticking boxes – it’s about how you employ people, how you interview people, and what kind of building you work in. We want businesses to create an environment where everyone can thrive.”

Small changes, big dreams

It’s a big vision, but it’s working. The success of the charity is told through the stories of the people it’s helped. One is of a child who received a height-adjustable wheelchair that enabled them to independently lower themself to the ground to touch the grass for the first time and to stand at the same eye level as his classmates – it may sound like a small thing, but for the child, it was life-changing.

Another success story comes from Tilly, a young adult with spinal muscular atrophy who is now working her dream job.

“We met Tilly when she was four and she wasn’t expected to live beyond her eighth birthday. Now aged 22, she’s studying at Stanford University, one of America’s most prestigious universities, and has just got a job working for Disney. It’s a phenomenal achievement. She’s super intelligent, and it’s an absolutely huge achievement for her. And recently, she become a trustee of our charity – the first beneficiary to hold such a vital position at Caudwell Children, from former child ambassador to now trustee. This just goes to show how any child can achieve what they want to achieve. We support them to realise their ambitions.”

With the charity led by the needs of the children and their families. Trudi has made sure that their voices are heard.

“Our original logo was a fictional character known as Tweaky, and we’d had it for 10 years. The kids said: ‘That doesn’t really represent us, can we redesign it?’ We said: ‘Absolutely!’, and they went away and designed a purple butterfly with a smiley face. We asked why they’d gone for that, and they said: ‘When we get in touch with the charity, we’re in a chrysalis, and you give us wings and teach us to fly.’

“One of our fundraising balls at the time was called the Legend’s Ball, but we were so moved by that, we renamed it the Butterfly Ball – again, at the children’s request.”

Alongside the ball, Caudwell Children produces a lot of fantastic fundraising events, with the goal of making them enjoyable for those who attend.

“We hold dinners, we’ve got bike ride challenges, you can run the marathon for us… It’s a matter of making it fun, so people actually want to be part of it. We don’t just take the money – we make you part of the purple family. We want to see you again.

“Despite the economic situation, we have to keep working to fundraise, stay positive, and find the best, most effective use of the money we have.”

While their full range of services includes diagnosis, interventions, research, providing equipment, treatments, therapies, and more, one of the biggest impacts Caudwell Children can have on society is to promote a positive image of disability, encouraging the world to see the child, and not the disability.

“We encourage our kids to get involved in competitive sport – sometimes by getting them sporting wheelchairs or other assistance. Some have gone on to compete at the Paralympics and the Commonwealth Games.

“Paralympic gold-medallist Lee Pearson works with the charity. His message to the kids is: ‘Yes, I have a disability, but I also have 14 gold medals. If I can do this, so can you.’”

Families can find help and advice at caudwellchildren.com if they need help with diagnosing autism, equipment, services, or helping their young ones to create new opportunities through life.

The success of the charity is told through the stories of the people it’s helped

Get support

Access Caudwell Children’s services by contacting them on 0345 300 1348 or visiting caudwellchildren.com for support on any of the following:

◆ Autism assessments ◆ Sensory packs that help disabled children ◆ Treatments and therapies ◆ Equipment and wheelchairs ◆ Sports equipment ◆ Short breaks and holidays ◆ Family support ◆ Digital and employment support ◆ Warm Homes initiative

The Leicester Connection

We asked Vic Sethi – long-time supporter and owner of Leicester-based business, Anand International – why he believes in the charity’s work

The Anand and Sethi family have been supporting the Caudwell Children for over five years. We like to promote the charity nationwide as they specialise in changing the future of disabled and autistic children.

They provide diagnoses, equipment, services and support to help children in leading an active life. Onehundred per cent of the donations go directly towards changing the children’s lives, as the cost of running the organisation is covered by a kind benefactor – and our good friend – John Caudwell.

Since being founded in 2000, Caudwell Children has helped more than 50,000 disabled children with over 700 medical conditions, providing more than £45m’s worth of services.

I believe people need to know that the award-winning Caudwell International Children’s Centre (CICC) is the UK’s first purpose-built centre for multi-disciplinary therapy programs for childhood disability and research of neurodevelopmental conditions.

The CICC required over ten years of conceiving, planning and creation, at a cost of £18m, with over half that figure contributed by John Caudwell himself.

Trudi Beswick CEO of Caudwell Children was instrumental in the design and project management of this state-of-the-art facility, ensuring the needs of children and families were at the heart of every decision she made.

The centre is built with autistic children in mind, and the CICC surpasses current UK accessibility standards by not only considering physical disabilities but neuro-divergent

JOHN CAUDWELL WITH HIS PARTNER MODESTA VZESNIAUSKAITEA AND THEIR SON WILLIAM

disabilities as well, which are not widely catered to under current legislation.

The centre’s features include quiet pods, a colour wall (where they can pick their own lighting scheme), views of woodland (where they can go on therapeutic walks), and much more.

Trudi runs the organisation from the heart. She is also a good friend and is very passionate about helping children with autism and other disabilities. We are proud of her and the entire team, the volunteers and the donors who make this organisation run.