FoundationHighlightsEdition 97 l November 2016

ABLE to smile again

November 2016 2

Director’s Message

Welcome to the November edition of Highlights.

This month has seen a plethora of dazzling Foundation Balls. Hilton hotels

in Manchester, Glasgow, Bath, Cardiff, Bristol and Liverpool have all done

an amazing job in hosting glamorous evenings of entertainment that have

managed to raise thousands of pounds to support our work in transforming

the lives of disadvantaged young people across Europe. Thank you to all

the volunteers, sponsors and guests who make our fundraising possible.

During the next couple of months we will share pictures from all these

events, so if you don’t see your event this month don’t worry, we will feature

it in the next issue. And if you are hosting a ball or any other fundraising

event this month don’t forget to send us your pictures so we can celebrate

your accomplishments in Highlights.

To show you more about the life-changing impact of our charity’s work, we bring you the powerful story of 8-year-old

Ava, who we are helping thrive in spite of her blindness through our project partner ChildVision.

This month we want to bring into focus the current mental health crisis affecting young people in our communities.

As a charity devoted to improve the lives of young people and children, we are committed to ensure that every young

person affected by mental illness receives the right support so they are ABLE to overcome their problems they are

facing and live life to the fullest. We tell how we are doing this on page 4.

We believe that with the right helping hand young people are ABLE to achieve so much. Our projects provide training,

equipment, experiences and support so that young people can improve their education and well-being and reach their

full potential. One example of this is the multi-sensory room that we have funded in Victoria College, a Specialist Arts

College in Birmingham for young people with profound learning and physical disabilities. On pages 7 and 8 we interview

Head of College Rachel Walters to learn more about the difference that our room makes in the lives of the students and

the challenges she faces in her role.

Our fundraising season is in full swing, and beyond the many Foundation balls, we have seen our Second Charity Football

Cup, our Afternoon ChariTEA campaign, Hilton Belfast Templepatrick Golf Day and many others succesfully delivered.

You can read about these events on the ‘Your News’ section of the magazine.

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank our wonderful volunteers who are busy organising the many

challenges, races and glamorous charity balls that are taking place this

autumn. A list of these is at the end of the newsletter and on our website,

so please do get in touch if you would like to attend, volunteer, replicate or

otherwise support a Foundation activity. And to stay updated, follow us on

Facebook and @DMTFYP on Twitter. We can assure you that every penny

raised really counts. Good luck to all our volunteers for their upcoming

events!

I do hope that you enjoy this edition of Highlights.

Simon Sheehan, Director

Donate and help change a young life

November 2016 3

w

ABLEAva’s story

Our project partner ChildVision is the only place in Ireland totally dedicated to the education and therapy needs of

blind and multi-disabled children. In 2014 we awarded a £25,000 grant to ChildVision to provide vital equipment for

blind children. One of the children helped is Ava and this is her story:

Ava was completely blind before the age of two. When she was born, her skin was covered in creamy brown

birthmarks that foretold tumours growing in her body. “Run your fingers through your hair,” the doctors told her mum

and dad. “Picture your hair is your brain. Ava has pre-cancerous tumours everywhere your fingers are. And on her

spine and on her kidneys. At any time any one of them could grow into cancer.”

There were rounds of chemotherapy. Seizures. “Family time” meant specialists and endless tests and waiting rooms.

Ava stopped sleeping, stopped speaking. She started to regress. Friends moved on. Later as her brother and sister

went off to school, Ava tapped ‘goodbye’ at the window. They always tapped back. Ava’s mum began to worry her

last child – for however long she had – would be the one left behind, in the dark with no place of her own to go.

Fortunately, there was a place for Ava: ChildVision, which has helped thousands of children with sight loss and other

profound disabilities to bravely overcome their obstacles and grow up to reach their full potential. ChildVision aims to

teach kids to ‘see’ with more than their eyes.

Most people aren’t aware that being blind means different things to different kids. Some, for example, can still

distinguish faint degrees of light or dark. Some are totally blind and have no light perception, like Ava. Still, she feels

the wet nuzzle of the horses in the ChildVision stable. She rings the chimes and senses the crunch of gravel or the

squish of mud on the sensory trail. She is expert at our “Smell of the Day” in the classroom. She hears the soft cluck of

chickens when she feeds them. Thanks to our support, every day Ava discovers new things she can do.

“Ava just can’t wait to brush the ponies and have her lesson. She’s so proud of herself. Her

world might be dark but at ChildVision it’s full of colour in a different way.” (Ava’s mum)

November 2016 4

Tackling the mental health crisis

Mental illness is devastating the lives of our children and young people. Suicide is the biggest killer of young people –

male and female – under 35 in the UK. Every day, four young people in our country take their own lives. And although

women are less likely to die by suicide, the number of girls with anxiety or depression in the UK has risen by 10% in the

last decade, with 26% of young women aged 16-24 now reporting symptoms of common mental disorders that can

often be debilitating.

These statistics are harrowing and more research is still needed to fully understand the causes of the current mental

health epidemic among young people. However, it is clear that the pressures impossed by social media, cyber-bulling

and the need to excel academically and profesionally in a time of economical uncertainty are taking a heavy toll on the

mental health of younger generations. You can read more about some of the latest facts and figures on this topic here

and here.

The Foundation is committed to doing its part to improve the mental health of our young people. To ensure that every

young person can beat mental illness and live life to the fullest, we have recently partnered with four fellow charities

that are doing vital work around young mental health: Chilldine, Papyrus, Samaritans and Hector’s House.

Since 2004 we have provided a total of £181,678 in grants to Childline, an independent service provided by NSPCC

that offers a free and confidential counselling service for children and young people. Our grants money have allowed

Childline to answer to thousands of calls from children in distress or danger.

Papyrus is the national charity for the prevention of young suicide. They deliver awareness and prevention training,

provide confidential support and suicide intervention through their confidential line, campaign and influence national

policy, and empower young people to lead suicide prevention activities in their own communities. Last March we

provided them with a £10K grant to support their life-saving work following a donor nomination.

With the money raised from our recent Hilton Worldwide Supply Management Golf Day we were able to provide further

support to suicide prevention charities that work with young people. We gave Samaritans a grant to support young

people under 25 calling their help line. We also gave a grant to Hector’s House, a charity that aims to help prevent

suicide by making it easier to recognise the symptoms that may lead to it. Together, we can prevent mental illness

from destroying more young lives.

ABLE

November 2016 5

New season at Galvin’s Chance

A group of 12 young people facing barriers to employement are currently receiving training on our Galvin’s Chance

programme, now on its ninth year. Their journey on the programme started on 6th October with an interviews day held

at Crowne Plaza Kensington. After three weeks of training covering customer service qualifications, taster days and

CV and confidence workshops, from the first week of November our participants will be placed in various hotels and

restaurants to undertake two weeks of work experience. All going well, we look forward to celebrating job outcomes

for the candidates.

One of the young people taking part in the programme, Thulfikar, said: “Everything is different since I started

on the Galvin’s Chance programme. Now I wake up feeling confident and motivated. This is really my

chance.”

ABLE

The new Galvin’s Chance participants with Fred Sirieix, General Manager at Galvin at Windows and co-founder of the programme.

Chocs for Chance returns for 2017

Our tastiest event of the year is back!

Chocs for Chance is our annual

chocolate box auction to raise funds

for Galvin’s Chance. Some of the most

famous chefs in the UK will create

unique chocolate boxes that will open

for bids from January 28 to February

9, so you can send your box to your

Valentine’s or keep it for yourself!

Some of the chefs who will be

auctioning chocolates this year are acclaimed chocolatier Paul A Young, Xanthe Clay, Chris Galvin, Michel Roux and

Raymond Blanc OBE.

Spanish chef José Pizarro, who has been taking part in the auction for the last three years and is taking part again this

year, said about the initiative: “Chocs for Chance is the most magical way to show you care.”

Find out who else is helping us this year and all the latest updates by following us on Twitter at @ChocsForChance.

November 2016 6

With your support the Foundation is ABLE to help young people in

many different ways. Here are just a few examples of how your

donations can help.

fund activity programmes to help build the

confidence of vulnerable young people.

train an assistance dog that works with young disabled children.

fund a place on Galvin’s Chance, our

into-work programme which offers training

and employment for vulnerable and

disadvantaged young people in London.

refurbish a hydrotherapy pool to provide

care for young people affected by serious

or life limiting illnesses in Devon.

support the cost of specialist learning

equipment for children with speech and

hearing impairments in London.

£50 can. . .

£25,000 can. . .£1,700 can. . .€1,000 can. . .

These are just some of the fantastic projects we have supported overour 16 years. Since 2000, we have distributed over £16.5 million in your local communit. By supporting us, you are transforming young lives, thank you. To help us, please donate here.

Every £ or € makes a difference

£100 can. . .

help send a child growing up in challenging circumstances in the Netherlands on a weekend excursion to build their skills and self-esteem.

€500 can. . .

November 2016 7

SpotlightMaking each day count

At the Foundation we believe that every young person should be ABLE to live life to the fullest regardless of their ability

or circumstances. That is why we support educational institutions like Victoria College, a Specialist Arts College in

Birmingham. The college provides personalised learning, community enrichment opportunities, creative enterprise and

therapeutic care to young people aged 19 to 25 years with profound and multiple learning disabilities and complex health

care needs.

In 2013 the Foundation provided Victoria College a £10,000 grant to support the creation of a multi-purpose sensory

room. The room serves the dual purpose of teaching the students cause and effect through switch work and providing

a safe and calming space to relax. The room has now been completed, so we visited the school and met with Head of

College Rachel Walters to learn more about the work they do and how our sensory room helps their mission.

How does the sensory room help the students?

The sensory room is really important for our young people. It helps with their daily physiotherapy exercises

programmes. It also helps our students to comprehend by using their senses, for example by having audio/visual

and tactile input, giving them independence and control. The Sensory Room also serves as a safe haven when our

students need to relax.

Why are the services that Victoria College provides so important?

Before Victoria College opened three years ago, profoundly disabled young people in our area who turned 18 didn’t

have anywhere else to go, so they had to stay at home. For young people who have been in special schools from the

time they are four to the time they are 18, to then suddenly not have anything except staying at home all day every day

is terrible. And nobody should have to stay at home when they are 18!

At Victoria College young people can stay with us for three more years, until they are 21, very similar to a normal

university. After they finish here it is not easy, because they go from children services to adult services, and there is not

so much out there for adults. But we give the parents a bridge of 3 years to see what else is out there and have time to

look at their options. Otherwise the young people would be sat at home with mum and dad. Some might be able to

November 2016 8

get a personal assistant to come home a couple of

days a week, but that’s very expensive so families very

often don’t have the means or possibilities to offer

their children anything else. At least with us, when they

leave school they do not drop off the edge to nothing.

Things that we take for granted like going to the

supermarket they wouldn’t do unless we took them.

Someone told me once that we keep them alive, and

even if I think that’s dramatic, I absolutely believe that

the stimulation and engagement we provide gives

them something to get up for in the mornings.

And after the young people graduate we still get

involved to try to help them and their families figure

out the next step, as they often don’t know where

to go to or who to go to. We are very well known to

Birmingham social services for being a pain!

What’s the most challenging thing about

running a place like Victoria College?

Most of our young people are coming to the end of

their lives even if they are only in their early twenties.

Thanks to medical advances they have already lived

10 years longer than they would have done a few

years ago. This year we have had four of our young

people pass away, and it has been very difficult for

staff, because we get very close to the young people.

We get involved with their lives; get to know their extended families, help them through hospital…to lose them is

devastating. Unfortunately it is part of this job, but you never get used to it. Our philosophy is that we are here to serve

and we just make the most of every day we’ve got, because we are aware that we might not see them tomorrow, so

we have to make the best of every day.

How does a normal day at Victoria College look like?

Our days are really busy. The young people come in at 10am. They use our own transport, two buses, and also West

Midlands special needs transport, as they come from everywhere. We meet and greet from 10 to 10:45, and, as some

of the students have been in the buses for a couple of hours and are quite tired, we have a drink and a snack before

moving on to the activities. Then we have our first session from 11 to 12, and it can be arts and crafts, music, cooking,

communication skills and many other possible activities. Lunch is from 12 to 1:45, as many of the young people need

help with eating and we do not rush it. Afterwards we have another session until 3:30 in the afternoon and then we

finish by getting everybody ready to go home in the afternoon and we end at 4. By the time the semester ends both

staff and students are exhausted!

Why did you choose a career in special needs education?

I am a music therapist by trade. I started in mental health and then moved to learning and physical disabilities 20 years

ago although it doesn’t feel that long! This job has changed my life completely. I have done this for 20 years and I

cannot see myself doing anything else for the next 20.

November 2016 9

EventsStar-studded night at Hilton Manchester Deansgate

On October 8, the glamorous Hilton Manchester Deansgate celebrated its 10th anniversary in style at their annual

Star Ball for the Foundation.

It was a sparkling evening of entertainment and solidarity in support of the Foundation and the SMA Trust, the only

UK charity solely dedicated to funding research into a cure and treatments for

Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a progressive, muscle-wasting condition that is the

number 1 genetic killer of children under two years old in the UK.

A host of celebrities and bussiness personalities attended the event, including

our patron Christopher Biggins, who presented the auction, and Coronation

Street stars Catherine Tylesdey, Antony Cotton and Jennie McAlpine (pictured

left).

Hilton Manchester Deansgate’s Star Ball, always held in partnership with the

Foundation, has been a feature in the social calendar of the city of the last 10

years. Thanks to the support of the hotel, we have been able to work with local

projects to transform thousands of young lives in the Manchester area.

Simon Sheehan, Director of the Foundation, said: “We are incredibly proud

of our partnership with Hilton Manchester Deansgate. during the

last decade. This partnership has gone much further than our

annual Star Ball. Through our fundraising activities and newspaper

giveaway events we have worked with the hotel to allocate 41 grants to different local causes

since 2007. We are delighted of the extent of our contribution and the impact we have had in the

lives of many young people in Manchester and across the Northwest region.”

Thank you to the following generous sponsors that made the evening possible: JD Sports, Football Capital. ActiveWin

and Swizzels.

November 2016 10

Your newsRobert Prendergast returns from Everest

We are really happy to announce that Robert Prendergast, Executive Chef at the Waldorf Hilton London, has successfully completed his epic trek to Mount Everest Base Camp in support of the Foundation.

Robert said about his adventure: “The entire

experience from planning to training, through

to actually setting foot in Nepal and more

importantly being at base camp (5300m) and Kala

Patthar (5600m) was amazing. The trekking itself

was at times difficulty and uncomfortable but the

scenery, experience and people you met along

the way made this an amazing experience worth

everything ounce of sweat. We were so lucky to

have been rewarded with amazing weather and I

would go back in a heartbeat.

I was delighted with all the support and

donations I received for such a great charity

and I know that the money raised will be used to help young, vulnerable children”.

Hilton Warwick helps fight bullying

In partnership with the Foundation, team members

from Hilton Warwick presented a £518 grant

to Northleigh House School, which offers a

safe, calm and progressive learning environment to

help secondary aged children recover emotionally

and academically from the effects of bullying and

trauma.

Depicted in the photograph are team members

Andrew Garratt (Assistant Food & Beverage

Manager), Elaine Simmons (Northleigh House

School Director), Prezemyslaw Kosinski (Food &

Beverage Supervisor) and Viv Morgan (Chair of

Trustees).

Since 2012, Hilton Warwick and the Foundation

have been supporting Northleigh House School as

a safe haven for bullied young people. Our grants

have allowed the school deliver special courses that help the students recover their confidence and self-steem.

November 2016 11

Golfing for the young people of Belfast

Hilton Belfast and Hilton Templepatrick held their annual golf day on September 8 at Hilton Templepatrick Golf

Club where over 25 local businesses put forward teams and joined in the fun for the day.

The day started with breakfast followed by golf and refreshments on the course, followed by a gala dinner, prize giving

and entertainment. Everything was sponsored on the day by many of the hotels generous suppliers.

Over £20K was raised on the day which will be distributed to a number of local projects before Christmas who focus

on education and children’s projects. Mark Walker, Area GM said: “Grateful thanks to our supportive suppliers

and friends who helped make the day possible and allow every penny raised to help the Foundation to

enhance children’s lives”.

Aaron Mullholland, Eamonn Burke, Raymond Duddy and Luke Thomson.

Mark Walker, Area Manager Hilton Northern Ireland; Paula Collins, GM Hilton Templepatrick; comedian John Linehan and Catherine Williamson, Hilton Hotels.

November 2016 12

EventsSweet ChariTEA

From the 3rd to the 9th October the Foundation hosted its first Afternoon ChariTEA campaign, a series of tea parties,

bake sales and bake-off competitions in support of the Foundation.

The campaign was a resounding success. DoubleTree by Hilton London Docklands Riverside, Hilton

London Canary Wharf, Hilton Cyprus, DoubleTree by Hilton Tower of London, Hilton London

Kensington, Hilton Maidstone, Hilton Madrid Airport, Hilton Garden Inn Luton North, Hilton

Birmingham Metropole, Hilton Cobham, Hilton Bath City, Hilton Belfast, Hilton Belfast Templepatrick

Golf & Country Club, Hilton Avisford Park, Hilton Reading, Hilton Antwerp Old Town, Hilton

Coylumbridge, Doubletree by Hilton Dundee, Hilton Manchester Deansgate and Hilton London

Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 all took part in the campaign to bake cakes and raise funds for the Foundation.

Team members from the hotels baked some extraordinary and delicious cakes that were sold along with tea to

colleagues and guests. To make the event a bit more exciting for the bakers some hotels organised bake off

competitions. Judges tasted all the cakes to decide the winners. And the competition was tough!

The Foundation had the pleasure of attending Hilton DoubleTree by Hilton London Docklands Riverside

for their joint bake off with Hilton London Canary Wharf. We also joined the bake off at Hilton Birmingham

Metropole where helped judge. It was incredible to see the skill and creativity from all the participants put into their

Afternoon ChariTEAs and to discover some incredible bakers among the Hilton team members.

It was a very sweet week, and next year we hope to have even more hotels take part.

To all the hotels who took part THANK YOU, DANK JE, TAPADH LEAT, MERCI, TESEKKÜR EDERIM, GRACIAS, GO

RAIBH MAITH AGAT!!

November 2016 13

From top left to right: Hilton London Docklands

Riverside and Hilton London Canary Wharf,

who did their event together; Hilton Avisford Park,

Hilton Bath; Hilton Belfast; Hilton Birmingham

Metropole; Hilton London Kensington; and Hilton

Manchester Airport.

To see the rest of the pictures from our ChariTEA

campaign visit our Facebook album here.

November 2016 14

EventsSecond Charity Cup

Our second football Charity Cup took place on Sunday 9th October with

seven teams from Hilton hotels across London taking part. On the day we

had The Canaries and Canary Wharf United representing Hilton London

Canary Wharf, two teams from Hilton London Heathrow Terminal

4, Kensington Knights stepping up for Hilton London Kensington, a

team from DoubleTree by Hilton London - Tower of London and a

team from DoubleTree London Islington.

It was a day full of energy, a few injuries, and lots of goals. All the

teams that participated fought hard to make it to the final but the crown

eventually went to Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. They played Canary

Wharf United in the final and won 2:1 in the end. Third place went to The

Canaries who beat DoubleTree by Hilton London Islington by 4 goals to 1.

We also hosted a ‘wooden spoon’ match between the two teams that

scored the least points. This was played by the Kensington Knights and

the second Heathrow Airport team. That game went into extra time and

Kensington Knights came out as the winners beating Heathrow with

4 goals to 3. This meant that Heathrow Airport took both cups at the

tournament.

A huge thank you to Henry Hurley who helped our team on the day, as our youngest volunteer he helped register our

players and sell snacks on the day. A big thanks to Jason, Jayden, Taylor and Devonte who came down from City and

Islington College to referee the matches and keep our players in check. This was part of their curriculum to become

qualified trainers,

To see all the pictures from the day check our Facebook album here. There will be more football tournaments

next year, so if you are interested in signing up a team, please let the Foundation know by emailing our Events and

Fundraising Manager Samiya at Samiya.rashid@dmtfyp.org.

Young volunteer Henry Hurley chips in to support young people.

November 2016 15

Hilton Worldwide’s Global Month of Service

October 2016 has seen many of our friends at Hilton involved in their Global Month of Service (GMS) events in support

of their local community networks. The Foundation was proud to partner with Hilton Worldwide’s Corporate

Responsibility team to help deliver the Maple Court signature event for GMS on 18th October. Now in its fifth year,

this year’s GMS event supported the work of the Watford FC Community Football Trust and the relaunch of the

Meriden Community Centre, which about is1.5 miles from Maple Court and is run by the Trust. The Centre has been

refurbished for use by local community groups of all ages and abilities and features a gym, AstroTurf football area,

meeting rooms and space for classes and events.

The special day featured a skillshare session which addressed key business challenges, a session focussed on

supporting young people from local schools and colleges and a practical volunteering strand which saw team

members rolling up their sleeves to help beautify external areas (pictures of the before and after below). 115 Hilton

Worldwide volunteers from across diverse divisions, including Engineering, Brand Performance, Finance, Sales,

Marketing and Supply Management and others, were able to come together and give their time, energy and skills to

support the local community.

The revamped Meriden Centre will be launching to the local community on 3 November and we wish the Trust every

success with their new centre.

Your news

November 2016 16

HotelPrizes

Vouchers for charities to help you fundraise

Visit dmthomasfoundation.org/hvs

Hilton Avisford Park

HOLLYWOOD

Saturday 12th November 2016

Charity voucher scheme in full swing

Thanks to the generosity of participating Hilton hotels across Europe, the Foundation

has been delighted to run a successful Charity Voucher Scheme to benefit a wide

range of different causes. The site was set up in 2014 as a simple way for us to

channel enquiries from charities looking for prizes for their raffle and auction events.

So far 1,155 different charities have registered on the site to have the opportunity to

purchase amazing hotel vouchers.

Rachel McPherson, who bought a two night stay at DoubleTree by Hilton Chester

said: “This was our top auction prize and in total we raised a fantastic

£2,400 for two amazing charities, the Butterfly Trust (for cystic fibrosis)

and the British Heart Foundation.”

Wendy Bray of the Seashell Trust in Manchester said: “Just a little note to say thank you so much for the

voucher for the St George’s Spa Hotel through your charity vouchers scheme. We used it at an event

last Friday and raised £1,592 for Seashell Trust.”

As well as helping our charity partners, the money raised directly supports the work the Foundation and we are most

grateful for all contributions. If you know of a local organisation that you think could benefit from our charity vouchers

scheme, please do share the link with them: www.dmthomasfoundation.org/charity-vouchers. Thank you.

November 2016 17

We have some new ducks in town

Get your sets today by emailingSamiya at samiya.rashid@dmtfyp.org

Royal Set

Dream Careers 5When you purchase a set of ducks, you’re helping fund charitable projects that make more than a splash, they make a difference. The money raised from sales has contributed to over 150 grants awarded by the Foundation. The grants have provided training, specialized equipment and support for young people throughout Europe so that they can gain access and opportunities to imporve their own lives.

When you purchase a set of ducks, you’re

helping fund charitable projects that make

more than a splash, they make a difference.

The money raised from sales has contributed

to over 150 grants awarded by the Foundation.

The grants have provided training, specialized

equipment and support for young people

throughout Europe so that they can gain

access and opportunities to improve their own

lives.

To find out more about how our ducks are

helping make a serious splash in the charity

sector click here.

Get your new sets today by emailing

Samiya at samiya.rashid@dmtfyp.org

November 2016 18

Dates for your Diary

11 November Hilton Reading Year of Culture Charity Ball

12 November Hilton Avisford Park, Arundel Hollywood Glamour Ball

22 November Hilton Blackpool Children’s Charity Dance Festival

25 November Hilton Watford Foundation Ball

26 November London Hilton on Park Lane Foundation Ball

10 December Hilton London Metropole The Grand Charity Ball

If you would like to attend any of these events, please visit our website to book. If you have any other events not shown, do tell us at events@dmtfyp.org

Here are just a few of the fantastic organistaions who have given their generous support to our events and campaigns. For a full list please click here.

Meet the Foundation team

Simon Sheehan, Louise James, Grants and Communications Manager

Angela Wimborne, Head of Finance

Samiya Rashid, Events & Fundraising Campaigns Manager

Irene Cantizano, Communications Executive

Anna Tullgren, Events & Fundraising Campaigns Assistant

Aurore Chatelard, Finance Executive

Thanks to our corporate partners