We celebrated 20 years of A Chance for Life Ltd in style last week, with a fabulous conference and afternoon tea, attended by friends, clients, referrers and colleagues, as well as many of our ACFL and Neurocare team.
The day was brilliantly chaired by Fran Mayes, Partner at Irwin Mitchell in Newcastle, who introduced some really interesting presentations from Paul Brown, Partner at Burnetts, talking about the work UKABIF and other organisations are doing lobbying for ABI services and Andrea Ingledew, Chartered Legal Executive at EMG, who talked about the future of deputyship.
Our own Louise Chance then took the stage to give a really heartfelt and personal reflection on developments over the past 20 years, both in A Chance for Life and across the wider world of neurorehabilitation. We definitely spotted a few tears shed around the room!
After the break, Lee Salmon, Head of Operations West and Paramedic at the Great North Air Ambulance Service told us about the invaluable work he and the team do, saving lives and improving outcomes for thousands of people across the North, reliant entirely on charitable donations.
To close the conference, our star speaker, Amy Houghton gave a beautiful presentation about her daughter Ava, from the day that GNAAS saved her life by airlifting her to RVI from the scene of an accident, through her time in hospital, to the progress she has made and continues to make now, with the help of her MDT and in particular her amazing OT – our own fantastic Christine Robson!
The High Sheriff of Cumbria, Alan McViety, spoke about the care and passion shown by everyone in the room and what a force for good that is, before helping us to draw the raffle. Thanks to our many generous donors, we had an incredible collection of prizes and we are absolutely thrilled to have raised £710 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service!
Finally, afternoon tea was served, as we were serenaded by Blue Jam Arts and raised a glass to 20 years of A Chance for Life.
This whole thing would not have been possible without the help of so many of the ACFL team, so a big thank you to everyone who pitched in behind the scenes.
Finally, a big congratulations from all the team at ACFL to Louise, not just for being the star of the day, but for the work, passion and dedication she has put into A Chance for Life Ltd over the past 20 years, which has brought us to this point and given us all something really special to celebrate. As she said in her presentation, there’s more to come from ACFL, so watch this space…!
