Welcome to the Woodford Foundation website!
Woodford Foundation (Woodford) was set up in 2004 to empower children and young people with a sensory disability in income-poor countries to become full and active participants in their families and communities. In particular we aim to help those living in areas of extreme poverty by supporting locally accessible education and training, that has been highlighted through community based initiatives. As such, Woodford currently operates in partnership with a number of organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, and with other international NGOs.
Woodford was established by four retired professionals who worked throughout their careers with sensory-impaired children and their families. Their work in the UK also took them overseas, where they witnessed the enormous need for services and support that so few normally have access to. They understand that having a sensory disability can be incredibly isolating and, coupled with the hardships of extreme poverty, can place people’s lives in an impossibly difficult and precarious position. Being deaf, blind, or deafblind can mean that you can be ostracised from your community and sometimes from your family. Communication can be limited to only basic and self-taught forms of language thereby increasing the likelihood of marginalisation. Without access to appropriate educational and/or vocational resources such obstacles can lead to a lifetime of dependency and even segregation.
Woodford endeavours to bridge the gap so that those with sensory disabilities have a chance to lead full and active lives within their family, community and the wider world.
Woodford’s Vision and Mission
Woodford envisages a world in which children and young people who have sensory impairments are full and active participants in their families and communities.
Woodford’s main aim is to support and empower deaf and deafblind children, young people and their families in income-poor countries by:
- Enabling greater access to education and vocational training
- Working with government and civil society to develop improved services
- Supporting the community-based initiatives which empower
- Supporting the development of self-worth, dignity and respect
Woodford has no political or religious affiliation and ensures that all project and programme work undertaken by, or on behalf of the organisation, remain neutral in such matters.
