Latest News From Hft

Hft's new 2010 Christmas catalogue is available now - please call 0117 906 1700 or go to www.hft-trading.org.uk to order a copy.

Local MP visits Hft's Head Office based in Emersons Green, Bristol.

Happy couple proudly celebrate their 7 year wedding anniversary at Hft's Frocestor Manor service.

Lorraine Warner who is supported by Hft's Arden Vale service, raised £281 for Help for Heroes by completing a 10K sponsored walk.

Hft has been shortlisted for two awards in recognition of it's pioneering work with Personalised Technology (PT) and people with learning disabilities. Hft has been selected as a finalist in the Best Use of Technology category for the Independent Health Care Awards 2010 and has also made the finals of the National E Wellbeing Awards 2010 under the category of Personalised Technology for People with Learning Disabilities.

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) donated £145,000 to Hft as part of their ongoing work with other organisations to support RAF families. The cheque was received with thanks at the Bidford Resource Centre, part of Hft's Arden Vale service.

Hft's Arden Vale service based in Warwickshire is calling for volunteers. If you have some spare time and live in the Warwickshire area, why not go along to our Volunteer Open Day on Friday 14th May.

Members of Stevenage Motorcycle Club made their annual Easter Egg Run to Hft, national charity for people with learning disabilities and their families, on Sunday, 28th March.

Hft is calling for walkers to join in its annual 30-mile sponsored walk, on Saturday, 17th and Sunday, 18th April 2010.

Hft's first conference for the people it supports in the central region went off without a hitch. Activities for the day included a signing session and pancake making!

HRH attended Hft's Personalised Technology Conference on 9th March 2010 and praised Hft's work in this important area. During her visit HRH viewed Hft's brand new smart house showcasing the latest technology to enable people with learning disabilities to live in their own homes.

Intrepid Lauren Rowland from Heswall in Wirral will be celebrating her 16th birthday by leaping from a plane at around 10,000 feet sky high.

Sir Stuart Hampson and Richard Barber OBE opened Hft's latest shop in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire on Saturday 23rd January 2010

Richard Price MBE, who has been actively involved with Hft for many years as a trustee, has become a patron. Richard joins other Hft patrons such as Martin Clunes, Dame Judi Dench and Griff Rhys Jones.

Lisa Thompson, senior for Leisure and Employment at Hft Devon, has been awarded Exeter College Skills Award for Health and Social Care Advanced Apprentice of the Year 2009.

Prince Charles, George Bush, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were among the voices heard at Dorchester Abbey last night, 16th December, when Britain’s sharpest impressionist, Rory Bremner, brought his own unique brand of humour to the annual “Coming of Christmas” charity concert.

Smudge is on screen again this Christmas! Peter Smith aka Smudge took part in a Water Zorbing Challenge for Noel's Christmas Presents Unwrapped which was screened on Sky 1 on December 6th.

Hft has developed a new 'Smart House' to showcase the work it does using personalised technology to enable people to live independent lives in their own homes. The Smart House was developed for Learning Disability Today 09 but will now be set up around the country in some of Hft's services.

Two years of campaigning for bus shelters to be put up near Hft's South Oxfordshire service at Milton Heights, Abingdon has finally paid off!

Professor David Croisdale-Appleby OBE has been named trustee and chair designate for Hft, following Richard Barber's departure in October 2010.

Remember the 70’s “It’s a Knockout” from TV or the “Royal Knockout” of 1987? Now it’s time to get out of your armchair and be one of the teams actually taking part in the real thing in Kingston’s Hook Road Arena on September 2010.

The beautiful medieval church of St Petroc’s in Bodmin will come alive on Wednesday, 9th December at 8pm with a magical night of Carols and Seasonal Readings to celebrate Christmas.

Jeannette Rix, of Hampton, Evesham, celebrated thirty years working for Hft, in an Anniversary party held on Thursday, 20th October at Hft’s Arden Vale service, Waterloo Road, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire.

People with learning disabilities at Hft's Kent service called in the local Ashford branch of the Territorial Army for support at their first annual regional conference on 16th and 17th September 2009.

Britain’s sharpest impressionist, Rory Bremner, will join famous actors, Robert Hardy and Juliet Stevenson, to celebrate the “Coming of Christmas”, in an enchanting candlelit evening of seasonal readings at Dorchester Abbey, Dorchester on Thames, at 8pm on Wednesday, 16th December 2009.

Local Bidford based Arden Vale service of Hft, paid tribute to its employees in an awards ceremony held on Saturday, 19th September at Greig Hall in Alcester.

Hft’s Stars in the Sky Yorkshire, a ground breaking friendship agency for people with learning disabilities, has been awarded a £176,214 Big Lottery Fund grant to develop and extend its activities in West Yorkshire.

There was dancing in the aisles at Egloshayle Church in Wadebridge on Sunday, 20th September when Johnny Cowling sang Elvis Gospel Music.

Six people with learning disabilities climbed 3209ft to conquer Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, during a weekend stay in the Lake District National Park.

Steve Newson from Cambridge, joined a host of celebrities and over 15,000 runners in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday, 11th October, raising over £500 for Hft.

Guests at Chy Keres, the Cornish short term breaks service in Tregadillett, run by national charity, Hft, for people with learning disabilities and their families, had an opportunity to try their hand at motorbike riding this summer.

Hft was presented with a cheque for £145 000 from the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund on 21st July 2009.

Barbara McIntosh, Co-Director at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, has been appointed as trustee of Hft.

Two friends from Thornton in Bradford are walking Hadrian's wall to raise funds for Hft. The walk will take place on Friday 7 August, donations can be made via Just Giving.

Hft's ground breaking friendship and dating agency, Stars in the Sky, has recruited some more staff and plans to extend it's services in the Calderdale area.

Tim Bushe’s “living monument” on behalf of Hft made a big impact on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square on Thursday, 16th July at 4pm.

Architect, Tim Bushe, 56, of Highbury, London, will form a “living monument” on behalf of Hft when he takes his place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square on Thursday, 16th July at 4pm.

Hft unveiled its new brand at the Pavilion Conference 'Personalisation and Learning Disabilities' in London on 24th June 2009.

An anticipated total of £10,000 was raised in Hft’s seventh annual Coast to Coast Walk which took place on Saturday, April 25th and Sunday, April 26th 2009.

After being together for twenty three years, Lucy and Wayne Williams are over the moon to be living in their own home in the Devon village of Chudleigh, near Newton Abbot.

Jools Robinson from Bodmin has raised £1,500 in support of Hft by running the London Marathon on Sunday, 26th April.