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Latest News

Hollybank Trust ‘Open Day’

Join us from 9.30 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Tuesday 20th July for a guided tour and take advantage of the opportunities to ask questions about everything we offer.

Light refreshments will be available. For further information or to confirm your attendance please contact Sally Yates on 01924 490833 or email s.yates@hollybanktrust.com.

 

LDC Riders Hop Off at Hollybank Trust on Long Distance Cycling Challenge (June 2010)

Cyclists taking part in the Manchester to Leeds leg of the massive Tour de LDC Lands End to John O'Groats trail visited Hollybank on Saturday for a quick pit stop.

Tour de LDC riders pit stop at Hollybank!

Staunch supporters of the Trust, Ring Automotive Ltd, were one of the sponsors of the event and helped make sure the team were fed and watered before carrying on their journey, and provided 'thank you' goody bags for when they arrived in Leeds. 30 riders took part in this leg of the journey to raise funds for Hollybank, including our very own Head of Fundraising, Catherine Longley.

Catherine said: ‘It was a fantastic experience and amazingly well organised. I can't thank LDC and everyone else who has helped Hollybank enough for all their support. It was great to ride with such a wonderful group of people who are so committed to supporting charity.’

After a stopover in Leeds, some of the crew set off to Newcastle on Sunday morning. Among the crew was Hollybank Trustee Chris Emptage who was the first to arrive in Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

The ride has generated a huge amount of team spirit and awareness of the Trust, as well as much needed funds.

A huge thank you to LDC for organising the event and well done to everyone who took part!

To show your support and sponsor the team, please visit our dedicated 'Tour de LDC' JustGiving page. Thank you!

 

Great Yorkshire Bike Ride (June 2010)

Some 1,700 cyclists took part in the Wetherby Lions' Great Yorkshire Bike Ride on the 5th June. Riders left Wetherby Racecourse in groups from 7.15am for the 70 mile road race to Filey.

A big thank you and well done to everyone who took part in the challenge!

 

Batley groups helping out... (June 2010)

Batley Ladies Circle have very generously raised £1681.57 through various fundraising events with the help from Servo Limited.

The Trust has also received £1,500 from Batley Round Table from all their fundraising efforts throughout the year.

These funds will go towards purchasing 3 new beds for our young adults residing at Willow Court.

A huge thank you to former chairpersons Kaire Rosin-Black and Richard Black, and everyone involved in the Batley Ladies Circle and Round Table!

 

Whitcliffe Mount High School (June 2010)

A special thank you to all Year 7 & 8 pupils for raising £350.00 for Hollybank Trust through various activities that have been held within school. Holly Bear visited the school in May to receive the cheque and say thank you to everyone who took part!

 

Silcoates School (June 2010)

Silcoates school presentation.

Pupils at Silcoates School in Wakefield held a number of events in aid of Hollybank which included a Super Heroes Evening. The pupils have now raised an amazing £1,450 towards our funds. A massive thank you to everyone for all their hard work!

 

Grosvenor Casino, Huddersfield (June 2010)

Grosvenor Casino in Huddersfield are one of the first 20 to sponsor a stone in our Yellow Brick Road Appeal. Thank you very much for your support.

 

Gledholt Male Voice Choir (May 2010)

A music festival organised by Gledholt Male Voice Choir took place in The Piazza, Huddersfield, on Saturday 22nd May. Holly and Olly Bear were there to give balloons out to passing children, and our fundraisers were out collecting too!

The Choir held their annual gala concert in the Town Hall that evening to raise funds for Hollybank, which included an after show dinner, art sale and raffle.

A big thank you to the Choir, Raj Beadle and John Stalmach for organising the event, and choosing to support Hollybank.

 

Huddersfield Examiner Charity Challenge (May 2010)

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Examiner Charity Challenge on Sunday 23rd May in support of Hollybank! We hope you all had a great day fundraising for a great cause! Well done!

 

Fun Golf Day (May 2010)

Hollybank's first golf tournament of 2010 took place at Howley Hall Golf Club on Tuesday 18th May.

Teams of four began teeing off from 9.30am for a full 18 holes of golf, and returned to the clubhouse for a hot buffet. In the evening golfers were treated to a prize giving presented by Pete Emmett.

Well done to Jaz Athwal and his team for scoring the most points and taking home first prize.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the event!

 

KSDL Partnership (May 2010)

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd (KSDL) based at The Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.

The company which runs facilities at the stadium including conferencing and events has chosen Hollybank as its charity of the year, and will be helping out with a number of fundraising events we will be holding there.

 

Collections (May 2010)

Our volunteers have been busy organising collections again. Our most recent collections were held at IKEA and Toys R Us at Birstall.

Can you spare a couple of hours to help with collections? If so, please contact the fundraising team on 01924 489069 or email fundraising@hollybanktrust.com

 

Peppa Pig and Hollybank (May 2010)

Hollybank was invited to a very special event at Harewood House over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Peppa Pig and friends were entertaining children on both Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, and Hollybank staff were there to meet people and tell them about the Trust. It was a fantastic weekend and even raised a little cash to help towards our fundraising efforts.

 

XTG sponsors Olly Bear (April 2010)

XTG staff and Olly Bear!

We are delighted that XTG Hairdressing in Huddersfield are sponsoring one of our mascots – Olly Bear. Olly will be out and about collecting loose change for Hollybank Trust and helping to raise awareness.

A big thank you to everyone at XTG for making this possible!

Artists' Launch (April 2010)

An informal evening to launch the work of the Hollybank Artists was hosted by Hammonds LLP on Tuesday 27th April. A number of pieces of artwork were displayed at the law firm’s offices and was available to buy. Holmfirth artist, Ashley Jackson, was there to officially open the exhibition.

 

Hammond's Ball (April 2010)

Hammonds LLP of Leeds held their charity ball on Saturday 24th April at Aspire in the city centre. It was a great evening and a huge success. A big thank you to everyone at Hammonds who was involved in this wonderful event!

 

Diamonds Are Forever Dinner (April 2010)

Hollybank’s annual dinner took place at Bertie’s in Elland on Thursday 22nd April. Following a James Bond theme, complete with an Aston Martin parked outside and a diamond auction, the event was one to remember. The evening helped us to raise awareness of the work we do, as well as a magnificent £20,000 towards our much needed funds. Thank you to everyone involved in organising and attending the event, and to everyone who donated prizes to the auction and raffle.

 

Gledholt Male Voice Choir (April 2010)

Gledholt Male Voice Choir logo.

We are delighted to have the continued support of Gledholt Male Voice Choir who are organising a Gala Concert in support of the Trust in May with special guests; Elland Silver Youth Band and Halifax Young Singers. The gents will be collecting for Hollybank during a music festival in Huddersfield town centre on Saturday 22nd May and performing their gala concert at the Huddersfield Town Hall in the evening followed by a dinner.

For more information about the event including advertising in the program, or to book your tickets please contact Brian Clayton on 01484 711633.

 

Yellow Brick Road Appeal! (April 2010)

Become part of Hollybank’s groundbreaking new project by joining our Yellow Brick Road!

The path will lead to a new 30 bed residential home for our children and adults, which will help us to continue providing ‘quality of life, for life’.

To feature your organisation’s name on our Yellow Brick Road for £100, simply download a ‘Yellow Brick Road Appeal’ donation form (1MB)* and post to the Fundraising Department, or contact us on 01924 489069. You can also donate to the Appeal online by visiting our dedicated ‘Yellow Brick Road Appeal’ JustGiving page.

 

Sponsor a Stone (April 2010)

Supporters can also be part of the new residential project by Sponsoring a Stone for £10 - simply download a ‘Sponsor a Stone Appeal’ donation form (700KB)* and post to the Fundraising Department, or contact us on 01924 489069. You can also donate to the Appeal online by visiting our dedicated ‘Sponsor a Stone Appeal’ JustGiving page.

Masonic Support (March 2010)

Mason's donation.

The Armitage Lodge Masons visited Hollybank to present a cheque for £1000 to purchase two Skoogmusical instruments which will be used in our music therapy project. These new devices will allow our children and young people with severe physical disabilities and associated learning difficulties to make music through a combination of sensors linked to hand or eye movement and computer technology.

Thank you to everyone at the Armitage Lodge Masons for all your support.

 

Voluntary Action Appeal (March 2010)

Want to do something different with your spare time?

Hollybank Trust is looking for motivated individuals who can volunteer an hour or two of their time to help with our fundraising activities around West Yorkshire. If you think you have what it takes, then call us now on 01924 489069 or email fundraising@hollybanktrust.com.

Please, help us make a difference to our very special people!

 

Holly Bear’s new volunteers! (March 2010)

Local supporters, Sue and Michael Crossland, have very generously offered to help out with our collections, during 2010. Thank you – we really appreciate support of this kind!

 

Kirklees Council Raise £400 (March 2010)

Staff from the Leisure and Culture department at Kirklees Council have kindly donated £400 to Hollybank Trust, which they raised at their office Christmas party. Staff from the department donated food, drinks and raffle prizes, with all monies raised used to support Hollybank Trust.

We would like to say a big thank you to Mark Doyle from Kirklees Council who was instrumental in organising this event, and everyone involved. Thank you, we really appreciate your support!

 

Yellow Day! (January 2010)

Yellow Day January 2010.

Hollybank’s first dress down day took place on Friday 29th January, when staff donated £1 to come to work in something yellow. We had some fantastic support, just look at how involved we got!

Our dress down days are taking place on the last Friday of every month, with a different colour each time.

 

Peter Terence Hair Design (March 2010)

Peter terence hair design fundraisers!

Love was in the ‘hair’ at Peter Terence Hair Design, Bradley, as staff held a valentines raffle in aid of Hollybank Trust. The main prize was a limited edition GHD box set won by Susan Lawdon of Liversedge. The raffle helped raise £140 which was kindly donated by owner, Peter Terence to Hollybank.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in running a similar event, please contact the fundraising team on 01924 489069.

 

Champion for Hollybank! (March 2010)

 

Huddersfield Town legend, Andy Booth, has been named charity champion for Hollybank. Andy will be in charge of the Trust’s partnership with the Club, which will involve attending a number of our forthcoming events.

Watch this space for more information on Andy’s involvement with Hollybank ...

 

Huddersfield Examiner Charity Challenge (March 2010)

Walk, run or cycle one of the Charity Challenge routes for Hollybank.

The Huddersfield Examiner Charity Challenge in taking place on Sunday 23rd May from Meltham Sports Centre, and is organised by the kind people at the Lions Club of Huddersfield. With wheelchair and pushchair routes too, there is something for everyone on this fun family day out!

To take part in the event for Hollybank, please contact Nicky Doyle on 01924 483923 or email n.doyle@hollybanktrust.com for an entry form.

All entry forms must be received by Friday 30th April.

 

Collections (February 2010)

Holly Bearat Ikea!

Hollybank has been collecting recently at IKEA, The Co-op Mirfield, The Light Leeds, Sainsburys Brighouse, The Kingsgate Centre, Huddersfield Town FC and The Dewsbury Rams, raising over £1,200 to date!

A big thank you to everyone involved in helping to organise these collections, and to our volunteers for doing the hard work!

 

St Saviours School (February 2010)

St Saviour's fundraisers!

Children at St Saviours School in Batley held a bright colour dress down day to support Hollybank. A cheque for £110 was presented to Hollybank at one of their assemblies. Nicky Doyle, Community Fundraiser said ‘We are extremely grateful for the support from the school and would like to wish them all the best for the future’.

 

Collection at Leeds Train Station (January 2010)

Hollybank staff held a collection at Leeds Train Station on Saturday 30th January with the help of Holly Bear. The collection helped to raise £150, which will go towards caring for our very special people. We would like to say a big thank you to Fiona Ruddy for her continued support.

If you are interested in volunteering then please contact Hollybank Trust Fundraising Department on 01924 489069.

 

Holly Bear joins Fundraising Team at Hollybank! (January 2010)

Hollybank Trust has a new addition to their Fundraising Team – Holly Bear.

Holly Bear in action!!

Our new mascot will be attending a number of local events and infant schools over the coming months to help us raise awareness of the Trust's activities.

Head of Fundraising, Catherine Longley said: ‘We are delighted to welcome the new addition to the Team. She will help to raise awareness and hopefully encourage people to support the Trust.

 

Patrick Stewart visits Hollybank! (December 2009)

Children at Holly Bank School were visited by a Hollywood actor last month!

Sailing.

Mirfield born actor Patrick Stewart, well known for his command of the Enterprise in Star Trek and more recently for his role of Claudius in Hamlet, has been working on a special project with the Hollybank Trust, and stopped by to meet the young people that he was helping.

Earlier this year, Patrick agreed to take part in a promotional film that will be used to raise funds for the Trust. Filming began with the help of Clare Morrow, a producer who worked for ITV and BBC for many years, and whose 16 year old daughter Mary is a pupil at Hollybank.

Then, in September with a carefully written script, Head of Fundraising Catherine Longley travelled to London to meet with Patrick and record the voiceover. To say thank you for his kind help, Catherine presented Patrick with a signed Huddersfield Town away shirt featuring the Hollybank logo, and some artwork that had been produced by the Hollybank Artists.

However, it didn’t end there as when Patrick was in the area working with Huddersfield University, he stopped by to say hello to some of the children he had been speaking about on the voiceover, and to complete filming for the DVD.

Lyn Pollard, Assistant Head Teacher at Holly Bank, said: ‘We were so excited when we found out that Patrick Stewart was going to visit Hollybank! He took time to talk to and play with the children, and really made them feel special. We would be delighted to welcome him back to the School anytime he is in the area.’

Head of Fundraising Catherine Longley said: ‘Hollybank Trust is such a special place and it is difficult to convey the extent of the work that we do. That’s why we wanted to put together a DVD which will show people exactly what we do, the special people we care for and why we desperately need their help to continue providing our services.’

‘It’s taken years to find a suitable time and project for Patrick to help us with, and I am delighted with the results of the DVD. His visit to the Trust was a really unexpected bonus, and he is welcome to come back any time.&’

Hollybank will be using the DVD to send to supporters and hope to visit as many organisations as possible to raise awareness of the work that we do. If you would like someone from Hollybank to visit your group, please contact Nicky Doyle, Community Fundraising Officer, on 01924 483923

 

Volvox Dinner (November 2009)

Sailing.

Hollybank Trust dined in style last week when one of their biggest supporters, Volvox Group Ltd, organised their annual dinner.

Volvox, based on Gelderd Road, Gildersome, are staunch supporters of the Trust and have organised an annual dinner for Hollybank for some 20 years, raising over £600,000 to date. The event, which took place at Headingley Stadium, brings together a wide range of Leeds based companies, many of whom support the fundraiser year after year, but this year they were joined by some extra special stars!

Kelvin Fletcher who plays Emmerdale’s Andy Sugden attended the dinner with some of his friends, including Danny Miller who plays Aaron Livesy in the soap, Hollyoaks actor Danny Tennant (Natty), and Leeds Rhinos players and brothers; Sam and Luke Burgess.

After watching Hollybank’s new DVD which features Mirfield born actor Patrick Stewart, Kelvin offered a tour of the Emmerdale set for auction, and raised £300.

The Trust were also joined by their new partners, Huddersfield Town. Town Chairman Dean Hoyle, Chief Executive Nigel Clibbens, Commercial Director Sean Jarvis, Operations Director Anne Hough, and Club Ambassador Andy Booth were among the guests at the dinner, and were kind enough to offer two tickets in the director’s box at the forthcoming Leeds United match. An important derby game for Town and United fans alike, raising £1,000.

Catherine Longley, Head of Fundraising at Hollybank said; ‘Once again, the event was such a great success! Volvox Group have been great supporters of the Trust over the years and we are delighted to have their committed support. They have raised over £600,000 for Hollybank now, which is such a tremendous figure!’

‘To see the support from both Huddersfield Town and Emmerdale was wonderful, and really helped to raise more money for Hollybank’.

The dinner raised an outstanding £25,000 which will be used to help build new homes for the children cared for by Hollybank Trust.

 

Triple whammy of local support for Hollybank! (November 2009)

Sailing.

Patrick Stewart OBE, who switched on Huddersfield’s Christmas lights on Thursday, also paid a special visit to Hollybank’s Roe Head site in Patrick’s home town of Mirfield. Patrick, well known for his command of the Enterprise in Star Trek and an acclaimed Shakespearean actor, has recently helped out by recording a voice over for the Trust’s new DVD which will help to promote their work and tells the story of how Hollybank can change the lives of children and young people with profound disabilities.

During the lights switch-on on Thursday evening, fundraisers from Hollybank were collecting shoppers’ loose change in the Kingsgate Centre with whom the Trust have a new partnership. Kingsgate Shopping Centre are delighted to partner the Hollybank Trust as their nominated Charity for 2010. The Centre Manager, Jonathan Hardy said, "We recognise the enormous amount of work which is required to generate support for this worthy cause and are proud to be associated with the team from the Trust. We are pleased to be able to offer our services to boost fundraising efforts throughout the year and look forward to forming a successful relationship with the Trust."

Fundraisers were joined by former Huddersfield Town striker and Club Ambassador, Andy Booth who helped with the collection and had his picture taken with fans. Hollybank Trust launched their partnership with Huddersfield Town at an exhibition at the Galpharm Stadium back in September, and Andy will be taking an active role in developing the relationship.

Cath Longley, Head of Fundraising at Hollybank Trust said: ‘Patrick has provided us with a really great voice over to showcase our work on a new DVD, and we were delighted to welcome him to Hollybank last week. We are building great partnerships with our local community, and it was great to see so many people supporting us at the Kingsgate Centre during the lights switch-on.’

‘Our partnership with Huddersfield Town is really flourishing and it is great that Andy Booth is providing us with such hands-on help!’

 

Holly Bank School & Children's Residential Care rated ‘Outstanding’

Holly Bank School underwent a joint Ofsted inspection on February 24th, 25th & 26th 2009, alongside that of the children's home. This is now called an ‘integrated’ inspection and it took place using new guidelines which are being piloted this term. The new system officially comes into place in September of this year.

Apparently we were the first organisation in the country to have the integrated inspection and we were given Grade 1, i.e. Outstanding for our education / school provision and Grade 1, Outstanding for our residential / care provision.

The school report is now published on the Ofsted web site but the children's home report is not available in the same way. If you would like to see a copy please contact us.

One extreme positive which emerged was that Ofsted acknowledged that some of the criteria by which they have to judge our provision is not appropriate, because our children cannot achieve in the same way as those in mainstream schools. As this was a pilot inspection, they will therefore request that some criteria are reviewed and alternatives introduced to better reflect the areas in which our learners are able to achieve. This seems like a major victory (if the recommendations are taken up), as well as the actual grade that we achieved.

We are really proud of our young people and staff and would like to thank everyone who was involved including parents who returned questionnaires, spoke to inspectors, etc. We think the reports really do reflect Holly Bank and would urge you to read them on the OFSTED web site and join in our celebrations! If you would like further details of the variety of services we offer, or would like to visit please contact: admin@hollybanktrust.com or call 01924 483926.

 

Holly Bank School becomes a Specialist SEN Physical and Sensory College

As of 1st September 2008 our school has been designated a specialist SEN school by the DCSF.

This means that:

 

The Vision Project

Sailing.

The new Vision Project which commences on 22nd September has been developed to enable our adult service users to access activities during the day/evening to replace college courses recently withdrawn by Learning Skills Council.

A showcase took place on the 25th June to give people an idea of what type of activities are going to be available from September. The service users then enrolled for the activities they wanted to participate in.

The many activities available include:

The majority of sessions will take place in the newly refurbished building which has been funded by a very generous donation.

 

Hollybank Launches Yorkshire's first iMUSE Technology Programme

The iMUSE programme uses interactive music, sound, visual and vibration stimulation to reduce participants' stress and anxiety levels, promoting a better quality of life. The iMUSE studio features Soundbeam, which allows Hollybank's profoundly disabled students to use an 'invisible keyboard' to compose both sounds and images using their own body movements, even the blink of an eye can be programmed to make the sound of a crashing cymbal. The studio also boasts Vibro-acoustic Therapy, where low frequency sine tones are used to stimulate and 'massage' the body from within.

The programme has been developed in consultation with Professor Phil Ellis of Sunderland University, a leading expert in the use of vibro-acoustic therapy.

The man responsible for bringing iMUSE to Hollybank, Stewart Geddes, has extensive knowledge and experience in providing art and arts training for the profoundly disabled community and has worked in the arts with people with special needs for 20 years. Stewart said, 'Empowering people to communicate in creative ways is the fundamental principal of the iMUSE project. We hope it will allow children, young people and adults who would otherwise have limited involvement in the arts to be seen as artists'.

 

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