4 June 2010
From injury to independence – Aspire continues magnificent
work, thanks to City Bridge Trust grant
The City Bridge Trust, whose sole trustee is the City of London
Corporation, has awarded *ASPIRE, a grant of £22,750 to improve and
expand its fitness studio at the Aspire National Training Centre,
Stanmore, London.
The fitness studio will increase the opportunity for young
people and adults with physical and learning disabilities to
participate in fitness activities and enjoy all the great health
benefits that entails. The Centre has around 4,400 active members,
of whom 25% are disabled, and is the first fully integrated
training centre in Europe for disabled and non-disabled people.
Excitingly the Centre has also been officially listed as a training
camp for Paralympic athletes to train in the run up to the 2012
Olympic games. The Centre’s fitness facilities are open to all
members of the public.
Aspire’s charitable aim is to provide the support needed to take
people from injury to independence. The charity gives new life to
people whose lives have been affected by spinal cord injury. To do
this, it runs four services: Assistive Technology, Supported
Housing, Independent Living and the Aspire Human Needs Fund.
This is the third grant Aspire has received from The City Bridge
Trust. The first grant helped newly injured people use computers
and the second helped equip halfway houses for people discharged
from Spinal Injuries Centres around the country.
Brian Carlin, Chief Executive, Aspire, said:
- “The Aspire National Training Centre was the first fully
integrated Leisure and Training Centre in Europe for both disabled
and non-disabled people. This City Bridge Trust’s grant is a huge
bonus for us as it will help make a brilliant community resource
even better.”
The City Bridge Trust is the charity funded from ancient tolls
over London Bridge. Astute financial administration of the bridge
many centuries ago by medieval monks has enabled the latter day
City Bridge Trust to make over 5,800 grants totalling more than
£230 million to causes across wider London since 1995 alone.
Ends
Notes to editors
- Press enquiries and photo requests:
Fiona Milligan, Press Office, City of London Corporation
Tel 020 7332 3451 or mobile 07900 244 200 2
- About the City of London
Corporation:
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation.
It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in
international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.
- The City Bridge Trust:
The City Bridge Trust is London’s largest independent grant-making
trust, and its sole trustee is the City of London Corporation.
Through grant-making and strategic initiatives, the City Bridge
Trust works closely with voluntary groups and charities to reduce
disadvantage in London. The City Bridge Trust was set up in 1995 as
the grant making arm of Bridge House Estates whose original purpose
was to maintain the first stone bridge across the River Thames –
London Bridge. Its funds date from the 12th century when tolls were
first charged. http://www.citybridgetrust.org.uk/
- Bridge House Estates:
The parent charity is The Bridge House Estates. This was set up to
fund the maintenance and development of the City’s bridges with an
annual provision set aside for this purpose. It receives no
financial support from the Government or from any other fund. The
fund paid for the building of Blackfriars Bridge, the purchase of
Southwark Bridge, and the construction of Tower Bridge. In February
2002 the fund took over the ownership and maintenance of the
pedestrian-only Millennium Bridge. The primary function of the
Bridge House Estates remains the maintenance of London, Tower,
Southwark, Blackfriars and the Millennium Bridges.
- *ASPIRE:
The Association for Spinal Industry Research Rehabilitation and
Reintegration Through its projects and programmes, Aspire offers
practical support to the 40,000 people living with a spinal cord
injury in the UK so that they can lead fulfilled and independent
lives in their homes, with their families, in work-places and
leisure time. www.aspire.org.uk