The 2009 Annual Report and Accounts is available from the Trust
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The Reedham Trust Summer 2009 Newsletter is now available from the Trust.
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A biography of
our Founder, The Rev
Dr Andrew Reed was  published in July 2005.  See "Our Background" page on this website for details.

OUR SUCCESSES

Amongst the Trust's numerous successes in helping children, the following cases are typical examples.  The details are true, but the names have been altered to protect anonymity.

BRIAN
lives with his mother and older brother in a rented house – a great change from the time when his father was part of the family and kept them in some style.  Working in the Far East as a financial consultant he telephoned one day to say that not only was he seeking a divorce but was living with a boyfriend.  He then moved base and refused to allow his boys to visit.

The same year, mother had a stroke and then developed a brain tumour.  She is unable to drive, is dependent upon state benefits and has had several long periods in hospital.  Fortunately we were able to support Brian in a state boarding school and the family is able to manage with holiday support from the grandmother.  Both boys suffered greatly from these traumatic changes to their lives.

HANNA
lives with her mother and younger brothers.  Both boys were thought to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the father.  
A Social Services investigation had proved inconclusive.  Then the mother suffered a psychotic breakdown and was admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act, having tried to cut her throat.  She has now been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is still very unwell.  One of Hanna’s brothers has settled well into boarding and we have also just arranged to help his sister in the same way.

ALAN
is the only child of a mother who spent her own childhood in care and was in fact born in Holloway Prison.  Mother and son live in a rented flat in a City Centre.  They have no relations at all and mother suffers from a particular form of lupus disease which has resulted in her suffering a major stroke.  She is frequently taken to hospital but has often discharged herself in order to be with her son.  He has been accommodated by the local authority which commissioned an independent assessment of the family.  The agency carrying out the assessment was so impressed by what they found that they started to fund the boy at a good prep school.  He did well in Common Entrance and started at a well-known school.  However, the placement collapsed because there were insufficient funds for mother and son to see each other.  Proper funding has now enabled him to attend a good foundation school where he can maintain regular contact with his mother.

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Despite the fact that The Reedham Trust supports children for social and not educational reasons, we are always pleased to receive notification in the Autumn Term of examination results for those of our students who have reached the stage of taking their G.C.S.E.s. or A Levels.  Having settled down at boarding school and being away, for a large part of the year, from difficult or worrying home circumstances many young people flourish and when they reach the age to take exams perform very creditably indeed, laying a firm foundation for further study and career prospects.