Chamber to aid charity in delivering support for learning disabilities
A charity empowering people with learning disabilities to achieve their full potential and encourage their integration in society has been named as this year's Solihull Chamber Charity of the Year.
Social Life Opportunities (SoLO) is a charity based in Chelmsley Wood and was founded in 2000 with just £500 in the bank and one employee delivering leisure activities for people with learning disabilities.
Since then, Social Life Opportunities (SoLO) has supported hundreds of children/young people and adults, some who have been part of SoLO's journey since it began, and has since expanded their team to 200 staff and is enhanced by volunteers.
SoLO's exponential growth has been shaped by need, by identifying gaps in provision and is driven by its desire to enable and empower the lives of all who SoLO supports and those it can offer a service to in the future.
The success of SoLO in specialist delivery for people with mild, moderate and profound difficulties has been due to a wealth of skills, knowledge and expertise from a wide range of people who have been part of SoLO's exciting journey. Its volunteer chair, Jan Prior has lived experience of the challenges of bringing up a son with severe and complex disabilities and this has been embedded into nurturing the growth of SoLO.
Being Solihull Chamber of Commerce Charity of the Year will facilitate further growth by enabling SoLO to expand its changing areas for those whose personal care needs cannot be met with mainstream bathrooms.
Together they hope to refurbish/refresh accommodation at SoLO's base in Chelmsley Wood with a second changing table and hoist.
Jan Prior, chair of SoLO, said: "This is brilliant news for SoLO, a leading Solihull social care charity, which has been providing services for people with learning disabilities for over 20 years. We're so pleased and thankful to have the support of the Solihull Chamber of Commerce following a long, hard journey through a pandemic, when staff have gone above and beyond to ensure its members continue to receive their activities and breaks.
"It's an exciting opportunity for engagement with the wider community in Solihull to further develop and enhance SoLO's personal care facilities in the bathrooms. A very welcome burst of Spring sunshine to boost SoLO onto the next stage of its journey."
SoLO will take over from Arrive Alive, the UK 's only registered charity solely dedicated to providing emergency medical response vehicles, and will be Chamber Charity until March 2023.
Samantha Frampton, head of Solihull Chamber, said: "Solihull Chamber is incredibly excited to announce SoLO as its newest Chosen Charity.
"Having supported Arrive Alive for the past two years, we have been able to raise vital funds through a range of activities and enable them to purchase life-saving, emergency response vehicles.
"The aim of this partnership is to support charities doing meaningful and impactful work in and around the Solihull area and it is already clear from conversations with Jan that there is a lot of passion behind the work taking place at SoLO. We are very much looking forward to engaging the business community in supporting their mission to provide quality services for people with learning disabilities."
For more information visit https://sociallifeopportunities.org/