Grace wins the heart of Honor Oak Lodge

“A Charity Driven By Passion”

Honor Oak lodge No 1986 of East Kent Freemasons today announced their sponsorship of Grace, a 4-year-old girl from Chatham who has been attending Step and Learn since she was only a few months old, having suffered two strokes in her first week of life.

 Step and Learn is a charity dedicated to the physical and educational improvements of children with Cerebral Palsy and associated motor difficulties.  The service they provide is not available on the NHS but is nonetheless provided free of charge to those that need it.  Although based in Medway, there are currently 51 children benefitting from this service from across the whole of Kent, and a further 6 waiting to be assessed.

 Honor Oak made their announcement following their annual Christmas party, which they have held in aid of Step and Learn since 2013.  Over 120 people attended the party at the Howard Memorial Hall, Wigmore on Sunday 4th December, where the children and their families were guests of the lodge.

Honor Oak donated £1,250 on the day, and a further £1,000 was donated in match funding by their friends at Lloyd’s bank.  The lodge will now be sponsoring Grace’s sessions at Step and Learn on a continuing basis and looks forward to receiving regular updates on her progress and supporting her on her journey. 

 Chairman of Step and Learn, Patrick Barden said, “The sponsorship scheme allows donors to follow the progress of their sponsored child and will highlight the positive impact that Step and Learn can have on a child growing up with Cerebral Palsy or other associated disorders.”

 A positive and pro-active approach is adopted by Step and Learn.  They encourage a child to say, “I can” rather than saying “I can’t”.  They respect and value parental contributions and put them at the forefront of their child’s development, helping them to adopt the programmes for use in the home, turning the skills learned into a meaningful array of abilities that will help in their everyday life.

 Grace’s mother, Lianne said, “The sponsorship idea sounds wonderful and such a valuable way to personally support children in their journey.  I’m both humbled and privileged that Honor Oak would like to be part of Grace’s ongoing care at Step and Learn.  I can’t sing their praises enough for what they’ve done for Grace since she was just a few months old.”

 Step and Learn is funded solely by charitable donations.  If you would like to find out how you can help, or perhaps sponsor a child yourself, please get in touch at patrickbarden@stepandlearn.org .