Parity for Disability

I am a trustee of Parity for Disability, a wonderful charity who provide services to young adults with multiple disabilities and their families. Parity runs day centres at both their headquarters in Whetstone Road, Farnborough, and at St Martin's Church Hall in Camberley, where one-to-one support allows students to achieve their full potential. I love visiting because the peals of laughter attest to the enormous fun everyone's having; I always come away feeling better.

These are exciting times for parity because we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a purpose-built day centre on land provided by Rushmoor Borough Council beside Farnborough Football Club. This is vital for improving much-needed services. Neither of our day centres is satisfactory, though the staff do a fantastic job in spite of their shortcomings. The Camberley centre, for instance, is in a shared hall, which means that equipment has to be stored away every afternoon and brought out again each morning, a great waste of time and energy. In addition, the new centre will include a water therapy suite, so that students will no longer have to travel to Guildford for this incredibly therapeutic treatment.

Parity needs £150,000 per year just to sustain current services, so raising the money to build the new centre is a huge challenge. Fund-raising activities take place throughout the year, and we look to the community to support us in these. Perhaps you've read about the sponsored bike-ride from Camberley to Lulworth Cove in the local press and would like to take part in that. If so, do get in touch with Parity. Alternatively, perhaps your company would like to adopt Parity as your charity for a year and think up fund-raising activities of your own. Have fun and contribute to the community at the same time.

If you would like more information, to visit, to receive Parity's newsletters, and especially if you have ideas about achieving our new day centre, please contact Alison Cooper: alison@parityfordisability.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 01252 375581