Last week was very hectic but this week has matched it.
Wednesday, we had a really interesting visit to Treloar School and College, Alton, Hampshire. It is an outstanding educational establishment enabling education for disabled young people. The age group ranges from 2-25 and is an inspiring place for all!! The school started in 1907. The then Lord Mayor Sir William Purdie Treloar wanted to build a hospital and school outside the city for children with non-pulmonary tuberculosis. He set up a “cripples fund” as his Mayoral Appeal. He raised money and noted that Queen Alexandra went to the Mansion House to open a fundraising fete in aid of his “cripples fund”. Treloar’s Hospital and School opened in 1908. Since then it has grown to become one of the leading providers of education, care, therapy, medical support and independence training for disabled young people in the country.
It is a wonderful place – so happy and positive and using up to the minute technology to allow the children to participate in their education and to become as independent as possible. They are encouraged to develop their skills and talents.
When the Lord Mayor of the City of London is elected he automatically becomes a trustee of Treloar Trust.
The staff of the school are a dedicated team and all looked so happy to be working with their students.
Every year an event is put on for the Lord Mayor. This year I went to this event and visited some of the classrooms of the College. It was amazing. The children were enjoying their classes and eager to show us what they were doing. Some of the older children had put on a display of their art work and others performed at a concert for us. It was awe inspiring to see the children able to make music using various techniques and technology. They were fantastic.
This is another example of the livery companies helping to enrich the lives of others and what a worthwhile thing to do. The school needs to raise money to meet the needs of their children and to enable the students to realise their full potential. Many events and activities take place to raise this money. To find out more visit Treloar’s website:
https://www.treloar.org.uk/school/
The rest of the week was more events, finishing on Friday night and then home for the weekend to relax and catch up with other parts of our life. Once again, I was so pleased to be able to hear and to take an active part in these events.