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Hadley and Sarah's Story- Longdown Activity Farm
Sarah’s son Hadley, has Cerebral Palsy and is a full time wheelchair user who requires the use of Changing Places Toilets.
Hadley’s disability also means he is incontinent and without a changing bench and hoist in an accessible toilet, he is forced to lie on the toilet floor to be changed and be dangerously lifted in and out of his wheelchair.
Sarah approached Longdown Activity Farm, near Ashurst in the New Forest, with the idea to fundraise for a Changing Places Toilet for her son and other disabled visitors. Sarah had been visiting the Farm since she was a child, and her children now also loved to visit the farm too. Having them install a Changing Places Toilet would mean that her son Hadley could enjoy the farm without worrying about having to go to the Toilet. Sarah approached the owners of the Farm, Bryan and Dawn who were very supportive of the idea. They informed her they were already looking into how they could finance a facility, as a result of seeing local press coverage around her Campaign.
Power of Fundraising
Knowing that the farm would be unable to fund the cost of the facility themselves, they came up with fundraising ideas, a timescale and a budget for the project.
Some of the Fundraising events that took place to help raise funds for the facility included, a Dung Heap Challenge, Quiz night at a local pub and a car boot sale. Through these various events they managed to raise half the funds needed to be able to have the facility installed, Bryan and Dawn were then able cover the remaining costs.
What is truly amazing about this is the timescale in which they managed to get a Changing Places Toilet installed on the Farm. They managed to have the facility open in just four months from the start of their fundraising date.
This shows what a vital tool and how powerful local fundraising can be on securing vital Changing Places toilets, within local areas. Local fundraising is going to become an increasingly important tool for the Campaign with continuing austerity measures and access to funding limited, local Campaigners will rely on Fundraising as a way of funding new Changing Places Toilets in their area.
You can find out more about Hadley and Sarah’s story on their website