Armonico Consort

In this project, musicians will support children with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities in four schools to write their own music and perform in a local arts centre. This will increase opportunities for music-making and lead to improved confidence and interpersonal skills.

Arts Depot

Trustees are pleased to support the vibrant and inclusive community-based activities, particularly the thoughtfully designed programme of work experience preparation and placements for participants referred by local SEN schools and inclusion units in mainstream schools. Trustees also note with pleasure the involvement of ‘Chickenshed’, another charity supported by JHCT.

The AT Society

Ataxia Telangiectasia Society: Trustees are pleased to see the positive impact our award last year made in supporting Ataxia’s Family Advocacy services. This included Zoom meetings with families and in-house and in-situ training for school staff and community workers.

Autism Bedfordshire

Trustees continue supporting your child and family support groups across Bedfordshire, including the‘LOAF’ (Loads of Autistic Fun) project for children up to 12 years old, their siblings, and parents.

Bendrigg Trust

Trustees are delighted to continue supporting Bendrigg’s bursary scheme, which enables more disabled children and young people to enjoy activity-filled residential stays away from home.

Brighter Opportunities for Special People

Trustees are pleased with the provision of a club for adolescent young people that offers opportunities to practise useful skills and enjoy social activities with their peers. It is particularly impressive that this is achieved through self-funding.

Calibre Audio

Trustees were pleased to be able to support Calibre Audio in the production of audio study guides in a format accessible to youngsters with visual impairment.

Candlelighters

Trustees thank Candlelighters for the recent application to fund its programme providing whole-family support and counselling for children and families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis. While we regret we are unable to offer the full amount requested due to wider financial pressures, we are pleased to make a grant award in recognition of your vital work.

Cerebral Palsy Cymru

Trustees are pleased to continue supporting the valuable work enabling early diagnosis and intervention for newborn babies with cerebral palsy in Wales.

Chailey Heritage Foundation

Trustees were pleased to support once again the hippotherapy programme, designed to introduce young children with severe disabilities to the experience of horse riding, offering a liberating alternative to wheelchair use.

Challengers

Trustees were pleased to support a new cycle of provision to the Guildford Youth Scheme, which welcomed around 54 disabled young people aged 13 to 18 and ran 39 sessions from your Guildford Centre on Saturdays and during the summer, half-term, and Easter holidays.

Chestnut Tree House

Trustees were pleased to support your summer events and activity programme for children with life-limiting conditions and their families across Sussex and South East Hampshire.

Child Brain Injury Trust

Trustees were glad that last year’s grant enabled support of children with brain injuries in the West Midlands. We hope this year’s grant helped expand these services.

Children’s Heart Surgery Fund

Trustees supported the work in promoting the wellbeing of children with congenital heart conditions, through the provision of sensory toys for neonatal units, ward-based arts and craft activities, and home monitoring equipment.

Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Trustees were impressed by the creative ways the Trust provided activities and support for young people with Cystic Fibrosis, particularly the involvement of young people in shaping the programme.

Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity

Trustees were pleased to continue supporting the Learning Together Project, which delivers conductive education sessions for children with cerebral palsy and other motor learning impairments.

Douglas MacMillan Charitable Trust

Trustees were pleased to support the inspirational dramatherapy sessions, offering children in your hospice a much-needed outlet through role-play, improvisation, movement, and puppetry.

Elizabeth Foundation

Trustees were pleased to continue supporting the vital speech and language therapy sessions for profoundly deaf children aged 2 to 5. Trustees understood these 80 intensive sessions played a crucial role in giving children the tools to communicate and thrive.

English Touring Opera

Trustees were delighted to receive the application to perform The Wellies to over 1,650 young people with SEND in 30 performances across 22 venues including schools, theatres, and public locations in London, Snape Maltings, Saffron Walden, Buxton, Chester, Poole, and Exeter. Your earlier production The Big Red Moon was highly praised, and Trustees were confident your new work brought joy to many.

Family Action

Trustees were pleased to support the work in providing long-term mentoring friendships for three children with Autism Spectrum Disorder on the waiting list.

Happy Days Children’s Charity

Trustees were pleased to contribute to the cost of a residential group holiday to London for 25 children aged 11–16 with special needs from the Horncastle area of Lincolnshire.

Hearts & Minds

Trustees applauded the work of Clowndoctors and Elderflowers — highly trained arts practitioners who combined musicality, performance, and sensitivity in their support of children with physical and cognitive disabilities. Their activities — from bubble-blowing games to gentle lullabies — supported not just the children, but whole families.

Howard League for Penal Reform

Trustees were personally very supportive of the expert guidance and legal advice to young people in prison, many of whom face mental health challenges.

Jessie’s Fund

Trustees thank Friend Steven Burkeman for his support of this charity, which remains close to many of our hearts. We were pleased to fund a creative, interactive music project at The Dales School, Blyth, for primary-aged children with complex special educational needs and disabilities.     

Joss Searchlight

Trustees were pleased to continue supporting this innovative approaches to addressing childhood cancer, anxiety, and depression

Keech Hospice Care

Trustees were proud to continue supporting the imaginative work of practitioners, who provide therapeutic and enriching activities for children and teenagers. One of our Trustees shared moving words from a teenager you supported: “Keech has been here for me and my family and made all the difference. I didn’t choose cancer; cancer chose me. But I did choose Keech.”

Kidney Research UK

Trustees were pleased to support the ‘Get Better Books’ project once again in Southampton and Bristol hospitals.

Kids Can Achieve

Trustees had been happy to support the work of Kids Can Achieve in recent years and were pleased to have made a grant to enable the fitting out of the proposed sensory room.

Leeds Children’s Hospital Charity

Trustees were pleased to have been able to support the next edition of the British Transplant Games, due to take place in Oxford in the summer of 2025, with some hope that one or two Horniman Trustees might have been able to attend.

Living Paintings Trust

Trustees were pleased to have continued to support the work of this national charity that reached over 4,000 children who were blind or visually impaired across the UK – a number that had increased by an exceptional 125% in the previous 9 months. Trustees knew that our grant would have helped provide those extra children who had recently joined your library with unlimited, free access to your special fiction and non-fiction resources, helping to promote and improve childhood literacy, create opportunities for learning, and boost social skills in a profound and positive way. Trustees applauded the involvement of over 200 volunteers.

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Trustees were pleased to have supported the developing work of the LPO’s Open Sound Ensemble programme and the provision of its 2-day Ensemble courses. It was pleasing to see that it was informed by the latest developments in music education and that LPO were working in partnership with disability music specialists.

Megan Baker House

Trustees were pleased to have known that the MBH message would have been delivered as accredited training (conductive assistant course) to teaching assistants at local schools by MBH’s Head of Client Services.

Museum of London

Trustees were pleased to have supported the further work in developing the Quieter Times sessions ‘Morning Explorers’ and also the inclusive nature of the sessions. Trustees hoped our grant would have gone towards developing events, specialist training for staff, and effectively promoting the events.

Naomi House & Jacksplace

Trustees were pleased to have begun a new cycle of support for your wonderful work with the families of children in life-limiting care. Trustees wished the grant to have gone towards the provision of respite nights for families.

New Vic Theatre

Trustees supported the literacy and storytelling project for pre-schoolers in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffs. Taking the form of an interactive performance and workshops, it allowed economically and socially disadvantaged children, including those with learning disabilities and life-limiting illnesses, access to their first educational arts experience.

OKMT (Otakar Kraus Music Trust)

Trustees were disappointed not to have received your Charity Commission Report and Accounts as it was a condition of our application requirements.

Polka Theatre

Trustees were pleased to have supported Polka Theatre over many years in its work to bring theatre to children with additional needs and disabilities. Trustees were delighted to have continued support by making a grant this year.

Rainbow Trust

Trustees were pleased to have continued to support the Rainbow Trust (a national charity) to provide practical and emotional support to families across Cumbria and Lancashire who were caring for a seriously ill child. e had to limit our funding this year but know that the grant will be put to good use

Reuben’s Retreat

Trustees were pleased to have been able to support Reuben’s Retreat as it grew and developed life-changing annual music therapy programmes that provided a vital opportunity for families to connect with others walking a similar path.

Sebastian’s Action Trust

Trustees commend the work of SAT in providing respite and fun activities for children with various disabilities.

Sense

Trustees were pleased to have continued to support the ongoing work of the Multi-Sensory Impairment Senior Practitioner in the West Midlands. She worked with children and families of some of the most sensory-disabled children and young people in the area.

SHINE (Cambridgeshire)

Trustees valued the support that Shine gave to children and young people with Spina Bifida, enabling them to manage their continence with confidence and independence. Trustees were most interested to have heard your presentation at our Conference in May, and one of our Trustees had been very impressed with the Zoom session she had been invited to join, showing the excellent support Shine provided and the rapport clearly demonstrated with your families.

SHINE (East Norfolk)

Trustees were pleased to have supported your work providing additional breaks for children and young people with severe learning, physical, or sensory disabilities, multiple disabilities, or complex long-term health needs, where families had a particular need for a higher level of support.

Sick Children’s Trust

Trustees were pleased to have continued support of Crawford House, a respite centre attached to the Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, a sanctuary for the families of hospitalised children from all over the North of England.

Strongbones Children’s Charitable Trust

Trustees had been delighted in the past to have supported Strongbones Children’s Charitable Trust in its work with children and young people with severe disabilities and bone conditions, particularly those most clinically vulnerable and living in poverty.

Theatre Troupe

Trustees welcomed your application for continuing funding for your groundbreaking work with young people and their communities, providing theatre therapeutically for those in need. Trustees would have wished to fund you to the extent requested, but the difficult financial environment means we are only able to offer a reduced grant this time.

Tiny Tim’s Children Centre

The grant provided by Trustees specifically provided free therapy sessions to children with disabilities and special needs, focusing on therapies which were not available to the children from the NHS or affordable from the private sector, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and remedial and neuromuscular massage, helping families from Coventry, Warwickshire, and the West Midlands.

Welsh National Opera

Trustees heard from your monitoring trustee about the bespoke training WNO offers to members of the orchestra and chorus, designed and delivered by a specialist in music-making with people with PMLD. The artists were encouraged to be reflective in their practice. Opera Tutti has evolved as a result, leading to the expansion and breadth of the programme, so that it can now offer one-to-one music sessions for children and young people with PMLD and a relaxed concert for a broader needs group.

Whizz-Kidz

Trustees are pleased to award a grant again this year to Whizz Kids to help build confidence and encourage life fulfilment for your young charges. We commend your sibling programme of support.

Whoopsadaisy

Trustees are pleased to continue supporting the holiday clubs for 5–12 year olds living with cerebral palsy. These are vital for helping the children maintain their skills and for giving parents important respite.

The Wingate Centre

Trustees were pleased to receive your application for funds to help with the costs of providing residential breaks for children with SEND. Trustees were sorry to learn that during 2023 you had to cancel a large number of breaks in the summer due to water damage in the accommodation, which led to only 23% occupancy.