HomePercy Hedley Foundation Speaks Out
Former Chief Executive, Jim Ferris, arrived at Percy Hedley as Head Teacher in 1985. He began his career as a teacher thirty six years ago, the last thirty in special education and caring for people with special needs as a Care Worker, Teacher, Psychologist, Head Teacher and Chief Executive. He has served on numerous bodies, including the Health Authority, the Scottish Office, Cerebral Palsy Ireland and was Chair of the UK Federation for Conductive Education for three years in the 1990s. He was appointed the Foundation's Chief Executive in 1995 and retired from that position in August 2008.
The Very Special Needs of Children with Cerebral Palsy
The Percy Hedley School offers a practical, pre-school advice service to parents of children as young as 3 months. It also offers a range of respite services, day and residential, a nursery and a family support service. When parents first visit the school their initial reaction is normally one of relief. Relief that they have found somewhere which is tailor-made to meet their child's needs...
"Adequate" provision is simply not good enough
More and more parents of disabled children are facing a process which leaves them shattered, disillusioned and with a clear sense of injustice. They have faced up to and come to terms with their children’s diagnoses and are seeking the educational and therapeutic provision which will best meet their children’s needs. Increasingly they are being denied this...
David's Recipe for Fulfillment and Happiness
Supported living 'in the community' seems to be the current dogma. Why, then, does the Percy Hedley Foundation have a long waiting list for its residential care facilities? Perhaps David's story tells why...
"Promoting the Rights, Needs and Aspirations of People with Disabilites"
The Percy Hedley Foundation, a charity based in Newcastle upon Tyne, has been offering a range of services to children and adults with cerebral palsy and communication difficulties for over 50 years...
"Time to Listen to all Parents"
Imagine being told that your child has severe cerebral palsy by a paediatrician. Where do you turn? What should you do? How will you cope?...
Jim Ferris
BA, MSc., C.Psychol.
Former Chief Executive,
The Percy Hedley Foundation