A charity that supports people with learning disabilities and complex health needs has been awarded the Movement for Good Award and received a £1000 donation.
Life Opportunities Trust (LOT) is a charity based in Abbots Langley, whose aim is to offer local people with learning disabilities and complex health needs the best opportunities in life to live their individual dreams.
LOT was one of 500 charities across Britain who received donations of £1,000 each as part of the Movement for Good awards set up by specialist insurer Ecclesiastical. LOT won the award following votes by over a quarter of a million members of the public who each nominated a UK charity.
The winning charities were picked at random from those nominated and LOT, which serves people living in Hertfordshire and London, was amongst the charities chosen.
Since ‘lockdown’ LOT has wanted to do more, by extending existing services and kick-starting new ones, it wants to make a real difference for service users and locals with similar communication and community access challenges.
Carmel Miedziolka, Executive Director at LOT said:
We recognise the importance of extending our skills and facilities and making them true community resources. As part of our community options plan we have piloted a friendship café with a range of social and learning activities available e.g. creative dance and IT classes and we are planning to roll out similar services across the areas we operate in.
We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate LOT for the Movement for Good awards, make a donation or consider our grant requests. We are delighted that people care deeply and each one of you should know that you have made a huge difference to the incredible work that LOT does and we’re looking forward to seeing how your financial boosts will change the lives of our service users for the better.
LOT was established in 1989 when long-stay hospitals for people with learning disabilities, mental health concerns, and autistic spectrum disorders began to close. At the time abuse and mistreatment of people in such hospitals had been prolific and many who transferred into the community were severely institutionalised. From day one, LOT pioneered person-centred support delivered in a compassionate manner and whilst much has changed over the last 30 years, its organisation’s mantra, “Large enough to cope, Small enough to care” has not. Using this mantra, it has expanded out of Hertfordshire into Hounslow, Hillingdon and Westminster, but has kept its community focus.
Image credit: Life Opportunities Trust
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