The Mary Budding Trust

A small charity making a big difference to the lives of West Devon children with additional needs

The Trust’s objective is to support children with additional needs, aged eleven or under, living within the area of Okehampton, Tavistock and surrounding villages. It is a self-funding charity which has been in existence since 2002, run by unpaid volunteers. We appreciate that each and every child has only one chance in life so our aim is, through providing grants and equipment, to give children as full and rich a life as possible and provide opportunities that might not be available without additional support.

We can provide financial help for individual children – at home or school, or for groups of children within an educational setting. Individual families can apply (with a confirmation statement from a professional) or the request can come directly from a professional.

The Mary Budding Trust has recently helped to fund equipment for the new sensory room at Lew Trenchard Primary School. The £1,750 needed for the equipment had been collected in memory of Ann McDonald, who helped to establish the Trust.

Other funding has included money towards ‘Soundfield Systems’ in two primary schools, a laptop to support a child that suffers severe pain when writing and specialist computer programmes to support children having difficulty with reading, writing and spelling. The list goes on – specially adapted equipment, including wheelchairs, car seats and tricycles, iPads, laptops, special books or assistance with travel costs for intensive hospital appointments.

Appreciation from families

We were delighted recently to be able to support Isabelle and her family. The family wrote: ‘Thank you so much for the funding so that we could purchase a Pulseguard sleep monitor so that we can monitor our precious Isabelle while she sleeps. With the risk of SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy Patients) being terrifyingly real, it means that we know she’s safe whilst she’s sleeping, which means that we can sleep at night. We really can’t explain how much this means to our family and how it has a huge impact on our lives. Thank you so much.’

Katie was delighted with the way we helped Kian: ‘Thank you so much for the grant for my son Kian. We are overwhelmed by it all, if there is any way we can help the trust just let us know. He is so over the moon with the pushchair and it is amazing taking him out and not having to worry that he is going to get out and run at the road or his usual trick of stamping on the wheels half way across the road so I can't move the pushchair. We cannot thank you enough, it has made leaving the house enjoyable again as it was becoming very stressful.’

Where did the name come from?

As the medical officer for Tavistock and District, the late Dr Mary Budding devoted much of her life to the support of young children.

She came into contact with numerous families who had children with severe difficulties and recognised that there was little structured support for them so set out to rectify this. With the help of Mencap, The Mary Budding Centre was opened in 1984 in a converted Victorian cottage. At that stage, at any one time, it supported six children under five and gave the opportunity for support from psychologists, medical officers, speech therapists and other experts. It also gave parents regular access to support from professionals. In 1991, The Centre moved to a unit in Tavistock Primary School, where it still thrives and, in 2002, The Mary Budding Trust was set up.

How can you help the Trust?

All Trustees give their time freely so all money received goes directly to help families – except for the small amount that goes towards stationery and the annual website upkeep. You may have seen Trustees and friends amongst the crowds, holding buckets at the Tavistock Passion Play on Good Friday. We were tremendously grateful to the organisers for supporting the Trust and much enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. Thanks to the very generous donations we made an amazing £1,426.73 (and 10 cents!)

We are very grateful to anyone who will help the Trust to raise funds – however small or large. It all goes towards providing equipment and support to young children with specific needs.

Can the Mary Budding Trust help you or a family you know?

If you, or someone you know, has a child (or is responsible for children) with additional needs who would benefit from a specific piece of equipment, therapy or professional support, please visit the website http://marybuddingtrust.org.uk/ and contact the Trust. Parents, carers or any professional person who is already involved in supporting the child or children can make an application.

Robin and Edwina Hill (Trustees)