Mott MacDonald supports local children’s charity Pace to build for the future
Pace has had a busy 12 months. The Aylesbury-based charity provides education for children with sensory motor disorders (including cerebral palsy) across several sites, as well as essential services for parents. They provide vital support to 350 families a year: when the pandemic struck, staff at the charity had to think quickly. In the space of a few short weeks and months, the charity had begun to transform itself (like so many others) into an organisation that was able to deliver services remotely.
A fully accessible education
This work continues today, as Rachel Covey, Corporate and Philanthropy Fundraiser, explained to me: “We’re in the process of developing a sophisticated teletherapy service, where vital physical therapy is delivered remotely. Our aim is to become a ‘SMART’ facility, where children who come to us for support will be able to interact with their environment in the same way as they would in a mainstream school. We are keen for them to experience a fully accessible education when they come here.”
For many of the children Pace works with, Rachel explained to me that screens can be a vital way of managing their difficulties. But of course these are expensive. As are smart speakers – which Pace eventually aims to have in every classroom. The school spaces are being transformed one by one into modern, fully accessible environments, but it is a complex and costly project. For the moment there is a mixture of in-person and remote education taking place – so having the right technology is more important than ever.
Rachel was therefore delighted when she spotted two brand-new wall brackets – worth hundreds of pounds – that had been posted to A Good Thing by Mott MacDonald in Reading, a global engineering and consultancy firm. Having access to this sort of sophisticated equipment will be vital to the efficient, state-of-the-art learning environment that’s being built for the children who are supported by Pace. “These brackets will be brilliant for mounting large screens on the walls of our classrooms,” Rachel explained.
Too good to throw away
Jackie Holland at Mott MacDonald was so pleased with the outcome, too. She had been tasked with finding a new home for the wall brackets after they had languished in a cupboard, unneeded, for around 18 months – in the aftermath of a pre-pandemic refurbishment of the company’s Reading offices. She told me how tricky it had been to re-home them: “I tried using eBay, but had no luck. I knew we wouldn’t just throw them away, so I was determined to find a way to pass them on to someone who could make use of them. When I heard about A Good Thing via a former colleague on LinkedIn, it seemed like the perfect solution!”
Super-local and time-saving
Jackie was thrilled with her first experience of using A Good Thing: “The whole process was very easy indeed, and things went smoothly. I would definitely use the site again. In fact, I already know we have other things in the building that will be looking for new homes once we’re back in the office more regularly. And I plan to spread the word to colleagues, as well – there are 30 Mott MacDonald offices across the UK, so I’m sure others will find A Good Thing useful.”
Rachel at the Pace charity echoed these thoughts: “I loved the fact that it was super local, and the platform was so quick and easy to navigate around. The email alerts are great, as you can quickly and easily see what’s on offer – and whether it’s something you might need. Using A Good Thing was a real time-saver for me.”
Arranging for the brackets to be delivered to Rachel was a breeze, as she told me: “Communicating with Jackie was so easy, and she even arranged for her colleague to drop the TV brackets off to me on his way home. Jackie told me that there may be other items looking for new homes at Mott MacDonald, and that she would be uploading these to the A Good Thing website in due course. I will be keeping my eyes peeled!”
It’s easy to do A Good Thing!
We were thrilled to help make A Good Thing happen by connecting Mott MacDonald with the Pace charity. We’re here to match up charities in need with businesses who have something great to donate – it’s that simple!
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