Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People is a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

that works with both children and adults with physical and learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries to help them gain new skills and increase their independence, helping them to achieve their goals for life. Its name is abbreviated to 'QEF'. QEF operates a brain injury centre in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

and a mobility centre in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

, as well as independent living services in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. It also operates a chain of charity shops in the south east of England. The president of QEF is Corinna, Lady Hamilton of Dalzell, DL. The chairman is Peter Gordon. The charity's chief executive is Karen Deacon. The QEF family of charities also comprises the partner charities: Medical Engineering Resource Unit (MERU), Voluntary Association for Surrey Disabled (VASD), and Sutton Shopmobility.

Patronage

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

had a personal interest in the charity throughout her life, offering encouragement around the original proposals, to formally opening the Cripple's Training College on 27 June 1935 as the Duchess of York. As Queen she visited in 1941 and requested that the charity should be renamed Queen Elizabeth's Training College for the Disabled. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visited a total of eight times, each visit being treasured by the trainees, residents, and staff. On 1 January 1967, the College was renamed Queen Elizabeth's Foundation in order to reflect the range of services the charity offered in addition to the training college.

History

Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People was founded in 1932 by Dame

Georgiana Buller Dame Audrey Charlotte Georgiana Buller (4 August 1884 – 22 June 1953) was a British hospital administrator and the founder of the first school dedicated to occupational therapy in the United Kingdom. Buller was born in Crediton, Devon, the o ...

, the Vice Chairman of the Central Council for the Care of Cripples. It opened as a vocational training college in 1934 under the name the Cripples' Training College, taking physically

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

trainees with conditions such as

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. A women's section was set up in 1946. In 1948 the foundation acquired the Dorincourt Estates in Leatherhead and in 1956 set up Banstead Place Medical Rehabilitation Centre. The College and the facilities at the Dorincourt Estates were amalgamated to become Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for the Disabled in 1967. The college developed a vocational approach to training disabled people and expanded to run workshops in areas such as engineering draughtsmanship and computer programming, as well as a mobility scheme.''Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for the Disabled: A History 1934-1984'' (Leatherhead: Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People, 1984)

Family of Charities

The Foundation works with three other small charities: MERU, which designs and builds assistive equipment for children and young people with disabilities and is based in Epsom; Sutton Shopmobility, providing rental mobility equipment for people with disabilities; and VASD, which provides wheelchair accessible holidays and disability products.

References

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External links

Website
Elizabeth's 1932 establishments in England Organizations established in 1932 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Charities based in Surrey South East England Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom