Liverpool-based charity, ADHD Foundation, has been awarded two separate funds from Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need, amounting to almost a quarter of a million pound. The grants will enable the organisation to continue its work over the next three years in supporting families living with ADHD and other neurodevelopment difficulties, including autism, Asperger syndrome, dyslexia, dyscalculia, sensory processing disorder and Tourettes.
ADHD Foundation, which employs 19 staff, has also revealed it celebrated its most successful year to date in 2015, providing counselling and mental health services to over 1,000 children, parents and adults. It has also experienced unprecedented growth in its training for schools and universities across the UK. The number of children with ADHD has doubled in the last ten years – which equates to 300,000 children and a growing number of adults who are in need of support.
Funded by both Liverpool and Sefton CCG and The Morgan Foundation, and commissioned by Local Authorities in Warrington and Surrey, ADHD Foundation is now the largest patient-led service of its kind in the UK – with over 60 families supporting the delivery of services and offering peer support. In 2016 the foundation will host its annual conference at Titanic Hotel Liverpool, now in its fourth year and the largest event of its kind, attended by 400 delegates from across the country and Europe. Patrons include Simon Weston CBE, comedian Rory Bremner and BBC presenter Diane-Louise Jordan.
ADHD Foundation also collaborates with several universities in the UK, including John Moores University in Liverpool, providing training and support for teachers and social workers, and on research projects to improve its own understanding of the condition and the best ways to support those with ADHD in education, health and employability. The foundation has received a research grant from JMU of £138,000, to continue this work over the next three years.
ADHD Foundation chief executive, Dr Tony Lloyd, said:
“In what is truly great news for the foundation, these new funds from Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need will enable us to build capacity and continue to grow the organisation in line with demand across the UK. Ultimately that means we can support more families and young people before and following a diagnosis, through self-management skills training, information and advice, and additional support through counseling, CBT and family therapy. It also means our partnership work with other voluntary sector agencies across the UK and several universities will be strengthened.”
Dr Lloyd also credits some of the foundation’s success to its board of trustees, adding:
“The board of trustees comprises of adults with ADHD, parents of children with ADHD, as well as three paediatricians and three psychiatrists, uniquely bringing doctors and patients together to design the service.”
Karen Rogan, foundation trustee, whose daughter Katie, 16, has ADHD and has received support from the foundation, said:
“As a parent, a trustee and a lecturer at Hope University who trains the teachers of tomorrow, I am delighted that our funding from BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief has been extended for a further three years.”
Patron, comedian Rory Bremner, said:
“This is great news. The foundation’s excellent and inspiring work means there’s a huge demand from desperate families for their help. These grants are a huge and much-needed vote of confidence and will allow them to build on that work.”
ADHD Foundation works to promote and improve the mental health outcomes, educational attainment, social inclusion and life chances of children, young people and adults affected by ADHD through early intervention with a range of training and therapies.
For more information about ADHD Foundation, visit www.adhdfoundation.org.uk or call 0151 237 2661.