Supportability awarded National Lottery grant to celebrate 70 year history

Stockport charity, Supportability, has been awarded a grant of over £93,000 to digitise the organisation’s 70 year history.

Supportability has been supporting people in Stockport with a range of disabilities since 1953, but their full story has not been formally researched, documented or shared before. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, there will be a digitised timeline of photographs, documents and audio recordings for anyone to access, capturing and sharing the voices and experiences of disabled people and their families over the past 70 years. Their stories will be captured so that the charity and people’s experiences are preserved for the future.

The 18-month project will begin in the Summer of 2024 and will cumulate in a public exhibition and celebration event in 2025. There will also be themed activities such as heritage walks, music, art and cookery sessions for the people they support and their families and friends.

To deliver the project, Supportability will recruit a Project Manager, freelance interviewer and a number of volunteers to gather written and spoken memories, documents and photographs from people who have used the service over the years, their friends and family, former members of staff, volunteers and Trustees. Volunteering will give people in the community an opportunity to connect with others and learn new skills whilst retaining the charity’s history.

People in Stockport will also have the chance to learn about Stockport’s forgotten heritage, as well as raising awareness of the history of disability rights.

The project will put disabled people, their families and the people who care for them at the centre of their story. It will give people in Stockport the opportunity to see disability rights at the forefront of its heritage.

In the 1950’s, a group of parents of children with Cerebral Palsy living in Stockport were struck by the lack of specialist support available for their children. Determined to change this, they collectively set about fundraising. Initially they managed to raise £90 towards a therapist and some specialist equipment, providing much needed physiotherapy services. Realising that much more was needed, the parents established ‘Stockport, East Cheshire and High Peak Cerebral Palsy Society’ in September 1953, and later acquired their current charity site, Granville House in Heaton Moor.

As from the 1^st October 2019 they adopted ‘Supportability’ as their new name. This was chosen to reflect their purpose and the services they deliver.

Commenting on the award, Supportability CEO Geraint Hughes said:

“We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and are confident the project will bring our heritage to life, preserving our charity’s important history and the positive impact it has made over 70 years to the lives of people with disabilities and their families in Stockport.”

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:

“We are delighted to award this grant to Supportability to enable them to record the heritage of Stockport’s disabled community. This important work, made possible by the National Lottery players, will ensure the voices and memories of the community can be heard for generations to come.”