Your funding will keep us connected as a community. Reach is a small volunteer-led national charity supporting children born with, or, who acquire an upper limb difference (ULD) in childhood for life. We are nearly 50 years old – invented in 1978 by two mums watching an episode of Tomorrows World reporting on the first ever mechanical prosthetic – their focus was to ensure all children with ULD could have a prosthetic, our focus is to support children with ULD to grow up to be who and what they want to be on their terms, to help their families, sometimes with the difficult bits, and proudly now to sustain a community who ‘get it’ for those children for life.
Today we have 29 volunteer branch coordinators in 17 UK regions, organising local meetups big and small for Reach families. For the past 26 years we have run RAW, our activity week for young people with ULD age 10-17 led by adults with ULD volunteering their time, as is our new 18-25 Retreat & Mentorship programme. For 30+ years we have run an Annual Family Weekend, this event tours the country bringing families together to hear from inspirational speakers, for children to play together and for us all to learn together. This year we are running a pilot Liaison Nurse Project - trying hard to improve the experience of families discovering their baby has an ULD either at a scan or as they are born, the project is being led by a Reach mum!!
