Halow is a Surrey based charity supporting adults with learning disabilities as they navigate adult life, providing specialist, person-centred support and activities.
In 2023, The Wisley Foundation gave a grant towards Halow’s Cook and Grow project and the Trustees have kept in regular contact with the charity since then. This year, we have been delighted to give another grant to fund Halow’s Fit Club and Sports Group for a year. These two-hour sessions are held at the Guildford Spectrum gym & sports hall, and our funding provides for a qualified instructor, venue hire and equipment.
Fit Club runs for 43 weeks with 24 participants enrolled. The personal trainer carefully curates a group gym session adapting for individuals as required. 12 of these sessions are for yoga/tai chi/boxercise. Freya is a participant who told us: “Fit Club is fun because it’s good and it gives you energy. It makes you feel good about yourself and it’s always good to keep yourself going and never, ever give up!”
Sports Group runs for 20 weeks with 12 participants enrolled. A qualified instructor introduces a range of different sports with the activities based around team-working to encourage social interaction as well as physical skills and fitness. The Trustees were delighted that the funding request included a Tri-Golf Starter Kit.
One of the Foundation’s Trustees, Jo Owens, attended a Sports Group session based around golf, and was delighted to see how everyone joined in and tried hard with the equipment. The instructor did exceptionally well when faced with a large range of abilities, and there was also a Halow volunteer to provide encouragement and support. Paul (a 35 year old participant) told Jo “This is my weekly highlight as I like to be in a team”, explaining that although he works a few hours at Waitrose he doesn’t have any friends there. Hearing stories like these highlight the profound impact of the charities we support.
