AIMS has been so busy since our last News-letter, it is hard to know where to begin.
We are now busier then ever and are supporting more families than we ever have done before. Our staff and volunteers work so hard each week to accommodate more and more children. It truly is amazing to see the difference our support has made to so many families. This has, however, had a knock-on effect in that the cost to run yearly has vastly increased and we are in need of new staff and volunteers.
We were able to give our families a much-needed treat with a trip on the Sail with Santa experience organised through Stuart Line Cruises in Exmouth. We also had an amazing last session where Santa came to visit the children in the woodland setting at Orchard Manor School. Some of our families enjoyed a night out at Shaldon Pantomime at the beginning the year. It was great to see so many of our children enjoying themselves in such a relaxed atmosphere.
We continue to receive very generous donations such as £500.00 from Bernie Morris, £100.00 from Dawlish Water Rotary and £300.00 from Salem Lodge. We have also received personal donations from Suzanne Thorne, Mary Lowther, Andrew Watson, Sylvia James, Eve Andrews and Dr & Mrs Donovan. Without these donations we simply would not be able to continue to run and we therefore consider ourselves extremely lucky. We are continuing with our own fund-raising efforts and managed to raise £1,148.00 from our annual Carol Concert at Luscombe and £220.30 from a recent event held at Luscombe Estate. To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day one of our children took it upon herself to raise money for AIMS by swimming 300 lengths of her local swimming pool. She managed to raise over £500.00 for us. We are also lucky enough to receive monthly donations from our regular supporters. We received grants from Devon County Council and Asda and have been able to purchase a huge amount of equipment to enable us to set up a sensory room for our children.
We were invited to attend Orchard Manor School and plant our very own tree to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. We now have our own tree in the grounds of the school.
The children received a visit from Devon Super Team and were so excited to meet Batman, Superman and Superwoman. They even got to sit in the Batmobile. Some of the children said this was their best day ever! These real-life super-hero’s gave the children a fantastic morning.
Both Morrisons and Asda donated Easter Eggs to us so that our children would enjoy their annual Easter Egg Hunt.
All of this has been possible because of all of our loyal supporters, our staff and volunteers who go over and above each and every week.
