Ray's visit to Essendene Lodge School, Caterham:

Ray Edwards is an inspirational speaker. He spoke to various age ranges and classes and totally adapted his approach so that it was age appropriate. The children were absolutely fascinated with his story and listened in awe. Ray was friendly and funny and his story needs to be told so that children have an appreciation of the challenges some people face on a daily basis but also that resilience and acceptance of circumstances is important for our wellbeing. Ray is very positive and I am so glad he came to our school. Thank you Ray, we all enjoyed listening to you and I hope you can visit us again soon.

Mrs Kishwar Ali

Head Teacher - Essendene Lodge School

Ray's visit to Heathervale Seniors Coffee Morning

It was a wonderful morning:

Dear Ray,

Thank you for coming to speak at our coffee morning today. Your talk was absolutely inspirational and I know people were very touched by your honesty. Several commented on their way out that they will never complain about aches and pains again!

Well done for coming through catastrophic circumstances and using your experiences to help offers .

Let me know when the books are ready

Very best wishes

Lesley

Ray's visit to Easthampstead Rotary Club:

Hi Ray,

It was a great pleasure to meet you, you are an inspiration to us all. Keep up your talks which are informative, amusing and brings out your personality so well.

All the best

Brian Sutterby Rotarian

Ray's visit to Holme Grange School, Wokingham:

It was great to welcome Ray Edwards MBE from Limbcare UK, who talked to our pupils from Pre-Prep and Prep about his life, charity, work and adventures. The pupils learnt the importance of perseverance - never giving up even in the most challenging times.

#nevergiveup #limbcare

I was honoured to be guest speaker at Yateley Lodge meeting on Jan 5th and it was a fantastic evening. Great company and wonderful meal. The Icing on the cake was when the Charity Steward and Worshipful Master presented me with a £500 cheque for Limbcare.

Thank you.

Below is a statement from the Lodge:

‘Yateley Masonic Lodge would like thank Ray Edwards MBE for his excellent presentation to the Lodge about his life and the founding of Limbcare. Everyone has commented on his talk and how clearly he described his issues. There was a mixture of seriousness and some humour, which will stay in peoples minds for a long time.

Best wishes for your future activities.

With regards from

William Clark

Acting secretary Yateley Lodge 9107

Working in partnership with Ukraine Relief we have successfully delivered a large supply of mobility equipment to a hospital in Dnipro, Ukraine.

From their weekly newsletter:

Thank you to the fantastic Ray Edwards MBE for coming in to visit us on Mental Health and Well-being Day. As you would have read in the last few newsletters, Ray is a quad amputee and has had to face many challenges in his life that has had a direct impact on his mental health. The way he spoke to the pupils at Danesfield about his journey was truly amazing. His warmth, fun sense of humour and ability to explain his story in a way that the pupils could relate to was brilliant. Thank you Ray!

Thank you to the whole school community for raising £381.28 for Limbcare the charity that Ray founded in 2010. It is a charity that offers hope, advice and peer support to amputee/limb impaired individuals, communities and others impacted around them.

Thank you to Mrs Jo Smith - Head teacher and staff and pupils who made Ray feel so welcome. A wonderful day

2nd Frimley Kenya Cub Pack invited me to give an inspirational talk on Friday 24th June. I had a wonderful visit and this is a statement from them:

What a fantastic evening, the cubs were so inspired by what Ray had to say and I know they all enjoyed hearing your story.

I would recommend to anyone who is looking for info or a visit.

Thank you very much Ray

On Monday 30 May, the chairman and founder of Limbcare, Ray Edwards spent some time with Campus to personally receive the donation raised for his charity and to express his gratitude to the team for their remarkable efforts and generosity.

In April of this year, Campus hosted a fantastic charity event, selling cakes and savoury treats which led to £2000.70 being raised. The event also included a raffle, tombola, handmade crafts and 'guess the number of eggs in a jar'. Through this event, the majority of Campus came together to make this day successful and the donations of baked good and savoury snacks from the team ultimately resulted in having such a sizeable gift to present.

For this event the nominated charity was Limbcare, an incredible charity that provides support and advice to amputee and limb impaired individuals and communities all over the country and internationally, creating independence through means such as counselling, music and education. Ray Edwards is himself a quadruple amputee with over 25 years' experience living as an amputee in society, business and the charity sector and is now the United Kingdom's longest surviving quad amputee. In 2011 Ray was awarded the MBE by HM The Queen for his charitable work and in 2016, Limbcare received the Queen's Award for Services to the Voluntary Sector.

In preparation for Ray's visit, risk assessments were carried out to ensure Rays's health and safety and with the help of SMC, Horejah Njie, Airfield Operations and Sophie Mustill, he was able to visit various parts of the site. The team also had assistance from Security Patroller Muhammad Sheikh, to make sure transporting Ray around the airfield and taxi ways was as seamless as possible.

The day began with Ray coming through security at 10:30am. After a tour of building 1082W and speaking with a few of the officers, Jay Garrett crowned the moment by presenting Ray with a giant cheque, representing the funds gained through the charity event. Ray was then taken on a tour airside including visiting the Royal Suite and Concord on the T4 tug road, plus a drive around the whole airfield followed by a visit to the control tower. It was a well thought out day with lots of special moments, leaving many of the staff inspired and encouraged that their good work will have long lasting impact through Limbcare.

"For me it was the way Ray so appreciated the money we raised for his charity that was nearly lost through not being funded but rely on charity events so he can help others and his openness about his journey from when he lost his limbs to now. The smile on Ray's face after seeing Concord and going to the tower as he described it as he was like a child with a new train set." - Security Officer, Corrine Sims

"First of all, I would just like to say what a fantastic day for all involved in organising this special occasion. Ray whose charity is Limbcare was absolutely thrilled in seeing how different parts of the Airport operate. The smile on his face was a joy to behold. The visit to the tower was superb as none of us have ever seen such panoramic views. Ray was so appreciative of not only the visit today but the amazing generosity that was raised for Limbcare. Ray's future plans are to bring more awareness within society to the difficulties of the day-to-day challenges of being an amputee. His next charity event is a golf day at Ascot golf course. He is also setting up a recycling scheme for Ukraine, which is collecting wheelchairs, walking frames, crutches and mobility aids for people in need." - Security Officer, Sarah Sewell

On behalf of Ray Edwards, Tanisha Bhangu, Sarah Sewell, Corrine Sims, Hiral Patel, Keely Jolliffe & Deborah Stevens, we would like to say a massive thank you to all the people who helped sell, bake, cook and donate food, as well as to our lovely colleagues who spent money and made donations - we greatly appreciate it.

Thank you to our ID Centre Manager Devan Pillai, who sorted out a space in the ID Centre car park for ease of access for Ray to get to Campus. Also, thank you to Ela from Heat.

I was invited to Ongar Place Primary School, Adlestone, Surrey on Friday 20th May . I gave an inspirational talk to the whole school during an assembly and here is the response I received today:

Hi Ray

Thank you so much for coming into school last week, your talk to the school was truly inspirational.

The children, and staff, were captivated by your stories which were enhanced by your good humour and incredible personality. Your resilience despite everything taught us all that trials can be overcome and not matter what life throws at you, you can still achieve so much good in this world.

We were so grateful that you were able to come to our school, I know many of the children and staff will remember your visit.

Thank you again.

I have attached a photo of you with Harry, Oliver and Bunty which you can use.

Kind regards,

Frances

We are so grateful to Sarah Sewell and her colleagues for organising a cake sale on 14th April 2022 at Heathrow Airport- they raised a fabulous £2000 for limbcare - Thank you so much.

On April the 14th at Heathrow Airport, business unit Campus Security, a cake and Savoury sale and numerous prizes was organised to raise money for the charity Limbcare. Many people were involved on this day donating cakes and savoury options. The majority of campus across all roles with amazing generosity made the day very successful.

Security Managers Tanisha Bhangu and Keeley Jolliffe. Security officers Corrine Sims, Sarah Sewell, Debbie Stevens, Hiral Patel, Parvin Bandaitt, Sima Dadwal, Soreen Monfries, Carol Selwood, Emma Flight, Bharat Hirani was the team involved selling from 7am on the 14th till 4am on the 15th.

Today our Chairman Ray Edwards MBE and Trustee James Callender were honoured to be invited to the radio station, B Radio on 106.5 fm this morning. Their friendly team of Roger and Beverly put them at their ease and had so much fun with them. Please listen along to them each day, our interview we will be aired on Thursday the 10th of March, from 11-12.

Congratulation ‘ Swimmers United’. Christopher and his team ’Swimmers United’ raised funds for Limbcare by swimming 38 lengths in 30 minutes on Saturday 5th March 2022. The total raised is still coming in. If you wish to donate and help these great eight year olds please visit https://limbcare.org/donate.html Thank you from Limbcare

Winter often brings its own set of problems to amputees like myself. Just after Christmas I was struck down with a chest infection which knocked me for six. Having no spleen my resistance to infections is lower than usual anyway, so once again I needed antibiotics. My amputations arose from an infection, in my case Septicaemia, in 1987.

It is not widely known that a large proportion of the 8,000 or so amputations in the UK each year are caused by infections like this, or from Sepsis or Meningitis. They can affect anybody of any age, and can even be caused by food poisoning. A great deal of other amputations are caused by diabetes, which is a condition that more and more people are suffering from, especially as we are generally living longer but also can have sometimes unhealthier lifestyles.

Limbcare is very proud to announce we have now signed up to Disability Confident Committed. 'The disability confident scheme identity is a means of communication. It is intended to inform the people you employ, and any other disabled people who might be interested in your organisation, that you have a positive approach to employing disabled people'

Dear Friends,

Herewith I send you pictures with my gratitude and the gratitude of the future beneficiaries of the goods you have sent. We truly appreciate your efforts to set this up, take care of the loading, logistics and bureaucracy involved. Please be so kind and also extend our appreciation to Limbcare. I intend to send some pictures when we manage to help people as well with these.

God bless you all.
Warm regards,
Jaco

"On Monday 16th October,Ray came to talk to the whole school about his life as a quad amputee and raise our awareness of people living with disabilities. The children (and staff) were totally absorbed by him and his story, and it remained the main topic of discussion throughout the school for the rest of the day. He made a massive impact on the children and we can't thank him enough. We can't wait to work with him and his team again"

Best Wishes

Jane llott
Cherrywood school
Hampshire

Local charities have created a unique partnership that will see life-changing artificial limbs and wheelchairs transported from South-east England to help many child and young amputees in Romania who have little hope of receiving a prosthesis which will change their lives.

Limbcare is supporting Frimley Park Hospital and their new group.

'Please support Limbcare in the Rushmoor Community Lottery. For only £1 per week. A chance to win up to £25,000 per week. Thank you.'

Our Limbcare team all finished the Wokingham Bikeathon on Sunday 25th June 2017. This was a fantastic achievement, especially for the team on the Surrey Bike - Jack White (broken arm), Len Amos (limb paralysis on one side), Gary Sewell (below knee amputee) and Ray Edwards MBE (quad amputee). A big THANK YOU to everyone who supported us. A wonderful day.

Farnborough England – 8th June 2017 – National charity Limbcare, which supports amputees across the UK, is celebrating seven years of helping amputees, the limb impaired and their families to cope with their life changing circumstances. During its lifetime, Limbcare has raised over £400,000 and dealt with enquiries as far afield as America, Africa and Australia. It has helped well over 1,000 people deal with their changing circumstances. Limbcare provides support with everything from personal issues to how to access benefits, home adaptation advice, mobility advice and gives emotional support to those going through this life changing experience. But despite everything that has been achieved, there is still so much more to do.

Ray Edwards MBE, Founder of Limbcare and the longest surviving quad amputee in the UK, commented: “During the past seven years we have achieved a huge amount in helping raise the profile of this part of our community within the UK; but there is still so much more to do. We run a Limb Loss Support Group at a few rehabilitation centres around the country, but it is my aim to role this out nationwide so that everyone who experiences limb loss can have the practical and emotional support that they require right from the outset. Diabetes and meningitis are playing an ever increasing role in our society, with growing numbers of people in the UK being affected by limb loss and this trend is set to continue. We are also seeing more and more requests from other parts of the world for mobility aid re-cycling to be increased, so that we can help as many people as possible have access to otherwise un-used good quality limb aids, if not at home, then abroad. I am so proud of what we have achieved so far, but we must also look forward and continue to be determined to support this growing section of our society.”

Limbcare is a fast growing charity and is constantly looking for volunteers up and down the country to help with PR, fundraising, travel and administrative support. If you think you can help please visit - http://www.limbcare.org/volunteer.html to find out more and get in touch.

My name is Chris Bantin and I'm a volunteer supporter for Limbcare. I am a qualified Fitness Instructor & Personal Trainer. During our monthly team meetings, it has come to my attention that a lot of enquires have been coming into the office, requesting fitness sessions for amputees and the limb-impaired. I am now pleased to announce that I am heading up Limbcare Fitness.

Our session will start on Monday 5th June 2017 and every Monday thereafter. They will be held in the main hall, the address of which is: 1 Stilwell Close, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6XH. The session will be from 6.30 - 7.30 pm, cost £5 per person. Please feel free to bring people with you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Chris Bantin - 07712 777499

She visited our Offices in Farnborough and met with some of our Trustees and a few of our volunteers officers.

We discussed ways to work together which is a great step forward.

" It was a great opportunity to hopefully forge a closer communication with LA and I truly believe charities should work together to create a better quality of life for all" our Chairman Ray Edwards MBE stated.

When I made that call a few months ago requesting assistance in locating a new bed that would help me, I was so pleased Limbcare Recycling had one of these in stock.

Thanks for the bed, which was delivered and fitted by Tony.

It has made my life so much easier - I'm not scared of getting in and out of bed anymore, being a bilateral amputee. Life is so much better, thanks to Limbcare and their continued support.

George is 82 years old and living full-time in a nursing home in Ireland. He has had a very, very hard time for the last 16 years. He was devoted to his wife, who passed away in 2001.

On Good Friday 2002 George went to buy Easter eggs for the grandchildren when he had a massive stroke. He lost the power of speech and how to swallow, but he is very strong and determined. When he left the hospital that August, he had some speech back and was inventing ways to cope. He was able to get around using a scooter and relocated, firstly into a retirement village, and then into the main nursing home building. His daughter bought him a wheelchair, as the scooter was not suitable for indoor use.

In June 2016 George fell heavily - he broke his arm very severely, suffering extensive pain and bruising. He then endured terrible cellulitis around his lower leg due to inactivity. His wheelchair stopped working; various suitable replacements were recommended - however there was no funding available. George was now pushing himself in a regular chair with one arm, with his leg tied on by a bandage - it was disgraceful.

"That is when George’s daughter contacted Ian at Limbcare. Limbcare had one of the suggested wheelchairs available and were able to offer it to George at a fraction of the retail price. Ian and Len arranged for the wheelchair to be delivered to George’s daughter in Ireland, who then brought it to the nursing home by wheelchair taxi. George couldn’t believe it - it was like a child getting a bike from Santa. He wheeled up and down the corridor; went upstairs to show his mates doing wheelies! It was an early Christmas gift and he was over the moon!

George has been transformed by the help provided by Limbcare. It is impossible to imagine how weak he would be today - physically, mentally and spiritually - if he was still trying to push himself around. He is a new man, with new-found freedom."

The Limbcare team were very proud to support Frimley Park Hospital User Group on Tuesday 14th March, bringing amputees, their families, friends and carers together. It was wonderful meeting other amputees and sharing their stories and issues - this is a monthly meeting and hopefully more will attend. Well done Tracey Craig for organising this and the refreshments.

Following recent press and TV coverage, we are very fortunate to have a container based in Yateley and two garages in Sandhurst and Blackwater to assist in our recycling service. Thank you to Michael Gray and Suzanne Wells for their kind donation.

With TV coverage and the local press our charity has had an offer from Wilky group who own Westmead House in Farnborough and they have kindly donated an office suite which is a fabulous gift, as our charity would have been made homeless on March 24th. We move into our new offices on Tuesday 21st March - Limbcare, Suite 3C, Westmead House, Westmead, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7LP. Our number is still 0800 052 1174.

Well, all problems come in threes but now we can say that, again with the help of the local press, Eden Motor Group in Camberley have kindly donated a Vauxhall Vivaro van for our charity to continue the great work we do in collecting unwanted mobility aids and assisting amputees and limb impaired in the UK. We hope to get delivery of this van within a couple of weeks. Thank you to Mark Clifton, General Manager, Eden Motor Group.

NHS England is now able to offer microprocessor controlled prosthetic knees under newly approved funding. John Morris, an amputee of over 50 years and a patient at the Bristol Centre for Enablement, is one of the first to benefit from this new policy.

Would you like to save money on your house hold bills and raise money for Limbcare. Utility Warehouse is supporting our charity.

If you call them on 0800 131 300 and state appeal number L73572

or visit their website www.utilitywarehouse.co.uk

Joanne Adams and Ray Edwards had a wonderful evening at the Gang Show last night, held at the Wilde Theatre Bracknell. Great entertainment and we were both looked after so well by the organising team.

Ray and Jo were invited up onto the stage to receive a cheque for the magnificent total of £700. Ray said a few words of thanks and spoke about the good work Limbcare does.

Thank you very much for all your kind donations.

Ray knows the frustration caused by not being able to feed yourself. We then worked with an engineer to come up with a prototype.

This was the first time he was able to feed himself. What a very emotional day for him, Ray and the rehab team.

On a beautiful sunny day Limbcare received The Queens Award for voluntary Services from Her Royal Highness Princess Royal. Princess Anne.