The case studies below represent the work we are doing in our chosen seven themes and are drawn from across the Foundation’s committees.

The King’s Arms

The King’s Arms: ‘Supporting young people for over 20 years’

The King’s Arms is a youth charity which has been running 25 years, we have two centres (Alton and Petersfield) and offer a variety of support and programmes for young people including after-school, mentoring, additional needs and young carers.

Why The King’s Arms needed our support

Our Young Carers are aged 8-18 years old and support someone within their household due to disability, illness, a mental health condition or substance misuse.  We in turn support them, with the help of your funding, by providing respite (clubs, outings, events), coping skills/mentoring and advocacy.  We allow them to simply be themselves rather than a label – a young person with interests, hopes and dreams of their own outside of their caring responsibilities.  Your funding also came at a pivotal time as our lottery funding had run out.

The results and impact

Our Three Crowns outcome model looks at the three pillars of mental health in children and young people – Increased Self Esteem, Greater Emotional Resilience and Better Positive Relationships.  We see impacts in all three of these areas as the young people grow in confidence, find their own voices, build new networks with one another, and identify their own goals for the future.

Feedback

‘When I first started going to the King’s Arms, I was really anxious and shy, but I quickly integrated into the loving and welcoming community.’

‘The King’s Arms has opened up so many opportunities for me. I have worked as independent young person on the review of another youth club and through that, I discovered the work of the Carer’s Trust. I have recently been appointed as a youth advisor to the upcoming inquiry from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for young carers and young adult carers, which is looking at access to higher education, training, and employment for young adult carers.’

‘I am so grateful to the King’s Arms for everything they have done for me. They have been the single most helpful support in my life. I hope to pursue a career in youth work and disability advocacy, and this regained self-belief is all thanks to the amazing KA team.’ Isla

Bramber Bakehouse

Bramber Bakehouse: ‘Baking for a brighter future’

We are an award-winning social enterprise, supporting women who’ve experienced abuse, exploitation and displacement with the confidence, knowledge and skills for a brighter future. Our baking, wellbeing & life skill programme, combined with befriending and mentoring support services help women to heal, recover & move forwards – all done in a trauma-informed way.

Why Bramber Bakehouse needed our support

We needed support to facilitate our baking, wellbeing and life skill programmes. We know empowerment and connection are vital for women to move forward and, with 1 in 3 women experiencing gender-based violence in their lifetime, we wanted to continue saying ‘yes’ to every referral coming to our doors. Wates Foundation provided vital funding to enable these programmes to run effectively.

The result and impact

We welcomed 48 women through our doors and engaged with 110 referral partners who were providing wrap-around support to female survivors. As a result women received more confidence, boosted their self-esteem, built trusted, safe relationships within their local community and felt equipped to move into the world of further education, paid work or volunteering.

Feedback

‘Bramber Bakehouse was therapy to my depression.’ Female Graduate

‘This has been a life changing experience that came at an important time, at a stage where I was ready to give up.’  Female Graduate

‘You touched our situation and can help us. Bramber Bakehouse will change a lot of lives. There are many others that need this service too.’ Female Graduate

Amber Foundation

Amber Foundation: ‘Supporting young adults to transform their lives’

Young people who have experienced childhood trauma, or escaped domestic violence, too often become homeless. Sleeping on sofas or in hostels, they struggle to find work with devastating effect on their self-confidence and mental health. It’s a vicious spiral that’s hard to break. That’s where Amber comes in. We provide a temporary home and a programme of support that helps young people transform their lives for good.

Why Amber Foundation needed our support

Amber relies on fundraising for its core work which is offering a bed space to young people experiencing homelessness so they can access Amber’s programme of support which includes employability, courses, volunteering, health and wellbeing, independent living skills and working through barriers that are holding the young person back.

The result and impact

The Wates Foundation grant for a bed space at Farm Place supported two young people to transform their lives from homelessness into training and work, people such as Tyler and Kieran:

Tyler, aged 21, found himself homeless after his relationship broke down and he had nowhere else to go. He became street homeless as well as spending some time in a tent trying to stay safe. That’s where Amber came in; Tyler came to Farm Place in Surrey where he gained qualifications in order to move forward into employment.

Kieran came to Farm Place as he found his life was spiralling out of control and he was starting to lose his family connections. Since he came to Amber, Kieran has been working on rebuilding his family relationships and his personal development.

Through Amber’s supported programme, Kieran has made some great friends, learnt how to cook properly from scratch, and gained knowledge with budgeting through Practical Training Units (PTUs) and workshops the Team Leaders have delivered.

Last year 79% moved on from Amber into independent housing, with a job or back into education.

Feedback

“Amber’s made me more confident and I’ve come out of my shell being surrounded by people all the time. Amber really helps with people’s mental health and communication skills. I’ve stopped smoking since coming to Amber and I can now hold a conversation and engage more. The daily maintenance I’ve been doing will make it easier when I move out and live on my own.” Tyler

“My Team Leader has been amazing, their advice, help with PTUs and support has helped me massively. I can go to them with my problems and share my feelings. They’re always there for you. Amber’s programme gives you a bigger insight into life, it facilitates everyone’s needs.” Kieran

Roots and Shoots

Roots and Shoots: ‘A green oasis in the heart of London, training young people to fulfil their potential’

Roots and Shoots is an independent, award-winning educational and environmental charity based in Kennington, South London. From a derelict site in 1982, it has grown to become a well-established and respected vocational training organisation for young people with SEN with biodiverse wildlife gardens, offering a safe haven for both people and nature to flourish.

Why Roots and Shoots needed our support

Our educational programmes are funded by the Department of Education, but this funding does not cover the costs of our facilities or site improvements, and so we must fundraise to provide our students – who all have complex learning needs – with the best opportunities to thrive.

Since Roots and Shoots’ beginnings we have taught horticulture, and in recent years its popularity on our Study Programme has skyrocketed. The previous horticulture classroom was a small, cramped classroom located on the first floor of our main building with no direct access to the outdoors and nowhere for equipment to be stored, making it difficult for the horticulture teacher and support workers to create dynamic classes with combined indoor and outdoor learning.

The result and impact

We decided it was time for our Horticulture students to have a larger purpose-built, wheel-chair accessible classroom located amongst our green spaces and horticultural facilities with direct access to nature. With support from the Wates Foundation, we completed the new “Barn Classroom” in September 2024, and its first year has been a huge success!

The Barn Classroom was built with sustainably-sourced oak in a traditional style, providing a warm inviting atmosphere for the students. It is completely insulated, with solar panels on the roof generating electricity for heating, IT and lighting, and rainwater collection which is diverted into the gardens.

With views of the Wild Garden and greenhouse, the classroom is a truly inspiring place for our students, and enables us to increase student numbers. It also provides an excellent space for community activities at our events.

Feedback

“Our students love their new classroom – it’s so much bigger and more comfortable, and makes teaching our students simpler with less distractions. In the winter, it’s right next to the greenhouse so we don’t need to stop growing, and in the summer it opens right out to the gardens for dynamic outdoor learning.” Elizabeth Ing, Horticulture Tutor

Design & Technology Association

Design & Technology Association: ‘Supporting Neurodiverse Learners in D&T Classrooms’

The Design & Technology Association collaborates with schools, industry partners, and government bodies to champion the subject nationwide. Our mission is to protect, develop, and grow Design and Technology (D&T) education so that every young person can experience a broad and enriching curriculum.

Why Design & Technology Association needed our support

As of January 2025, around 1.7 million children in England, representing 18% of all pupils, have been identified with special educational needs (SEN), a number that continues to rise. Many face challenges related to speech, language, communication, or autism, which can make full participation in school difficult.

Design and Technology offers a valuable alternative learning experience, especially for neurodivergent students, thanks to its hands-on and visual nature. However, the sensory aspects of D&T classrooms, such as unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells, can still pose barriers, sometimes deterring students altogether.

With support from the Wates Foundation, we created a resource to help reduce this anxiety and build confidence among SEND students in D&T settings.

The result and impact

To support teachers working with SEND students, and thanks to the Wates Foundation, we created ‘Dexter’s Tech-tastic First Day’, a classroom resource designed to ease the transition into secondary D&T environments.

These short, accessible videos help demystify the environment, preparing students for what to expect and reducing the potential for sensory overload.

We distributed the resource to all 28,000 of our members via our online newsletter and printed Practice magazine and made it available for free download on our website. It has since been widely adopted by D&T teachers in both mainstream and specialist SEND schools, as well as by primary teachers preparing students for the transition to secondary education.

Feedback

“Our students loved using the QR codes and found it fun that they could use enabled devices to see and hear what the machinery did.”

“This resource is invaluable… especially for pupils who can access the workshop before it’s used for lessons. It definitely helps reduce anxiety.”

“An amazing idea, I wish I had thought of it first! Thank you for making this available as a freebie.”

Teaching staff

TAG Youth

TAG Youth: ‘The youth club for disabled young people’

TAG plays a crucial role in the lives of children and young people with disabilities.  We bring fun, a sense of structure and a whole host of new opportunities to the people we work with, broadening their horizons, boosting their social skills, and giving them a place to simply be themselves. By supporting young people at one of the most important periods of their lives we help them learn new skills, embrace their passions, and develop a sense of identity and independence.

Our experienced and energetic team builds voluntary, trusted relationships with young people, away from many of the other pressures they may be facing in their lives.

We work with children from the age of 8 and continue supporting them up to the age of 25.

We are committed to delivering high quality activities across a range of settings to benefit better mental wellbeing of young people and strengthen our community.  Our programmes consider all the challenges young people are facing, be it at school, home, or in the community.

Every day, our Youth Workers transform the lives of children and young people by giving them somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to.

Why TAG Youth needed our support

Our core youth club has and remains at the heart of our charity, but over the years we have identified gaps within the market and increased our offer by opening additional youth clubs and extending our range of activities to include arts programmes, sports and overnight stays.  Our work is as vital as ever for the children and young people we support, but the way people are accessing our activities is changing.  If TAG is going to make a difference to even more lives, we must continue to adapt to the changing needs of families, so we can provide the right response.

Social and economic factors are affecting our charity’s ability to engage with more children and young people.

As a charity, TAG is entirely dependent upon our supporters, funders, and volunteers.  Without their continued support, we would not be able to continue our wide range of activities to those often hard to reach families, many of whom sit outside the statutory framework.

The result and impact

Our focus continues to be on children and young people who live, learn or earn in Kingston and Richmond, however we continue to reach families further afield.

Delivering activities on 351 days, providing over 2,251 hours of delivery, directly supporting 267 young people through our youth clubs, sports and arts programmes, totalling 6,936 interactions, approximately 1,000+ additional interactions were achieved through our outreach programmes.  Over 750 unpaid carers were indirectly supported.

Create (Arts)

Create (Arts): ‘Sparking creativity, igniting change’

We are committed to improving lives, opportunities and outcomes by providing friendship, advice and a range of some of the UK’s best specialist and progressive educational services from the point of diagnosis.  These activities include Baby Support Groups, Early Intervention Groups for pre-school children, Communication and Drama Therapy, and our School Advisory Service supporting the successful inclusion of children in mainstream schools and nurseries.  We also provide training for thousands of education and health professionals and parents.  Children and families can also attend social events and seasonal parties, where they can make friends, build a network of support, and take time out from any of life’s challenges.

Why Create needed our support

Young carers often face significant challenges, including social isolation, mental health struggles and limited opportunities for respite from their responsibilities. Research shows that 44% of young carers report worsened mental health and nearly half feel less connected to others since COVID-19. The cost-of-living crisis has further strained families, reducing access to enriching activities.

Create’s inspired:arts programme addresses these needs by offering free creative workshops designed specifically for young carers. These projects, developed in partnership with local carer services, provide a vital outlet for expression, connection and personal growth. Funding from the Wates Foundation was crucial to deliver 48 workshops across two high-need locations, reaching over 40 young carers. By enabling participants to engage in art, dance, music and more during the school holidays – a particularly isolating time – this support helps create a space for skill development, confidence building and community connection.

The result and impact

As a result of the funding received from the Wates Foundation, Create was able to deliver impactful inspired:arts workshops, transforming the lives of young carers.

Participants reported improvements in their overall wellbeing, as well as their teamwork and communication skills. Parents and carer services also noted the transformative impact of the projects, as young carers returned home with renewed energy, pride in their achievements and a sense of joy that helped to counterbalance their daily responsibilities.

Workshops were carefully designed to ensure flexibility for participants balancing caregiving duties. Through collaborative arts projects, young carers discovered hidden talents and explored new ways of self-expression. The feedback received from these projects highlights how these workshops provided not just creative opportunities but also emotional support and moments of joy.

Feedback

‘I now feel like I have a voice.’ Participant

‘One of the main things I like about Create projects is that other people who share your experiences are there too. You socialise with them, and they know what you’re going through. You don’t have to explain it to them, which is great.’ Participant

The Irene Taylor Trust

The Irene Taylor Trust: ‘Creating Music. Transforming Futures’

Founded in 1995, the Irene Taylor Trust (‘ITT’) supports prisoners, former prisoners and young people at risk of offending.   ITT’s objective is to inspire positive change through the delivery of creative music programmes, working with some of the most disadvantaged individuals in society.  ITT’s work focuses on facilitating composition and performance, and this serves as a means of building the aspirations and self-confidence of beneficiaries.   Participants are encouraged to re-engage with peers and family, to build healthy relationships with peers around a shared interest, and to develop skills such as teamworking and communication that will improve their employability.   The charity’s programme of work helps prepare prisoners for release, reduces the chances that former prisoners will reoffend and that young people at risk of offending will slip into the criminal justice system.

Why The Irene Taylor Trust needed our support

The funding environment for the support of the arts in criminal justice has become increasingly competitive.  Following the general election, there was a high level of uncertainty about the prisons’ capacity to contribute financially to projects, and projects in the criminal justice system were vulnerable to delays or cancellation.  For ITT, this put pressure on core costs as there was no allocation from project funding to cover these when work was delayed or cancelled.  The Foundation provided an invaluable contribution towards covering core costs with an unrestricted grant.

The result and impact

During the period of support, ITT worked with over 650 individuals.  None of the former prisoners ITT worked with reoffended during the period.  63% of the young people who participated achieved Bronze Arts awards and 86% reengaged with education or training.

Feedback

‘The most creative and exciting project I’ve taken part in since being in prison.’ Serving prisoner

‘Builds confidence and motivation, rapport between prisoners and officers, a chance to feel a part of something big. A way to get their story across.’ Prison staff

Greatwood

Greatwood: ‘Animal Assisted Intervention for children with special educational needs’

Greatwood focuses on educating disadvantaged children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI), using former racehorses.

Specialising in supporting those learners with SEMH (Social Emotional and Mental Health) difficulties, Greatwood’s innovative educational programmes are inclusive and designed for people with cognitive, physical, emotional and social challenges or disabilities, with the aim of making a real difference to their future lives and careers as well as facilitating their social mobility by challenging the perception of “success” and “failure”. By providing a unique learning and sensory experience in a secure non-judgemental nurturing environment, it gives those who have little knowledge of the countryside and animals the chance of a totally new opportunity to complete real, physical tasks whilst developing their own life skills. Greatwood operates a ‘Cycle of Rehabilitation and Change’: horses helping people ⟳ people helping horses; simultaneously providing those former racehorses that can’t be re-homed, with a useful occupation.

Why Greatwood needed our support

The continuing ability to raise income is the greatest operational challenge for Greatwood.

Funding has moved away from local authorities and each school has sole responsibility for how they spend their provision of money for learners with a single Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and SEND pupils with Pupil Premium. Greatwood’s education programmes’ price point is therefore calculated to ensure that we remain inclusive as well as a viable option for schools however this means that for all the education programme there is a shortfall in what is charged out to schools and what it costs the charity to deliver the programmes. Match funding is therefore required for every place and Greatwood, financial support from foundations such as Wates underpins our ability to continue to deliver education to those in the community who need it most.

The result and impact

The grant from the Wates Foundation has allowed Greatwood the financial flexibility to support those learners that would not have been able to access our provision due to economic constraints either placed on them because of the lack of funding from their school, or for those Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) learners, because of their personal financial circumstances. Being able to provide match funding for increasing numbers of learners has allowed us to become even more socially inclusive within our community by enhancing educational opportunities, access to resources and opening up progression routes into employment, further training or volunteering at Greatwood. All of which positively contributes to a person’s wellbeing and the integrity of the community.

Feedback

‘Greatwood has magical powers, we can really see the difference between our students that have had the Greatwood experience and those that haven’t.’  Teacher from a partnering school