Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) is a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * 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 sha ...

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 potential. QEF operates a Care and Rehabilitation Centre just outside Leatherhead 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 around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

. 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 charity's chief executive is Karen Deacon. The QEF group also includes subsidiaries: Medical Engineering Resource Unit (MERU) based in Carshalton and The Grange (2016) Ltd in Kent.

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 al ...

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, 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, physica ...

trainees with conditions such as

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. 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)

Subsidiaries

QEF has two subsidiaries: MERU, which designs and builds assistive equipment for disabled children and young people and is based in Carshalton and The Grange (2016) Ltd based in Kent and provides residential and supported living services for people with learning disabilities.

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