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Making a difference

"This wonderful home is all we hoped it would be and is a benchmark for others caring for profoundly disabled young people. We have been particularly impressed with the emphasis on the care of each resident as an individual, with the programme of activities and therapies both on-site and externally, with the high standards of care and training and quite simply with the love and security in which staff 'cocoon' all the residents - a true home in every sense of the word."

How We Got Here

It seems like only yesterday that we opened the doors of our first Martha Trust Home in Hereford. Our aim was to provide the best possible care for young people with profound intellectual and physical disabilities, and Martha Trust has now become an integral part of Community Care in the county. It is as well to remember and review the journey we had to make to achieve today's success story.

In 1994 the founding trustees, Sarah & Richard Smith, inspired by their youngest daughter Sophie who has profound disabilities, decided to embark on raising the necessary funds to build a home that would satisfy her future needs and at the same time could provide help for as many families as possible, faced with a similar difficult situation to their own.

After considerable effort and support from the community at large who gave generously of their time and funds the first Martha Trust Hereford home was completed in December 1996 and the first resident arrived in January 1997. We have been full ever since and have twelve lifelong residents and some fourteen respite care residents who enjoy life at Martha in Hereford.

Providing a loving, safe and secure home environment is the main objective of the Martha Trust, and the home is deliberately small to create a family atmosphere. The concept of having no age limits is important as it allows for continuity of care which is so vital for people with profound disabilities and complex needs.

Since first opening our doors we have also been able to develop our charitable respite care, which enables families who are unable to get funding to have those holiday breaks that everyone with able bodied children takes for granted.

All in all Martha is a fantastic experience and a wonderful achievement for all those who have so generously given their time and funds. As to the future we are now embarking on raising the necessary funds to build a second Martha Trust House home in Herefordshire. One thing is certain, there are many thousands of families, single parents, foster parents and carers who wish they were lucky enough to have a Home like ours on their own doorstep - somewhere where their son or daughetr can be safe for the rest of their lives.