2024 was a landmark year for Brandon Trust. Our charity was formed in March 1994 with less than a hundred staff, at a time when people with learning disabilities were most commonly living in secure units. Brandon has evolved over the past three decades alongside the wider social care sector. Now we employ almost 3,000 people and support almost 2,000 children, young people and adults, to live their lives the way they want to, in their own homes, accessing their local communities, working in paid employment, forging relationships and making their own friends. Explore the history of Brandon.
January

Brandon FC held their first training session in January and by November, the team had formed an official partnership with Cornwall FA and launched two new disability football hubs in Cornwall, one in Newquay and the other in St Austell, enabling people Brandon supports and others, to play football and make friends.
The team competes in Cornwall’s Disability Football League, a monthly festival of football against other disability teams from across the county.
February

Brandon’s enabling support ensures the people we support are able to live their lives as they want to – which includes exploring their interests and hobbies.
In February, Lydia, who we support in Cornwall, organised an at-home exhibition of her favourite artwork. Lydia, who loves colouring and creating beautiful pictures, said: “Colouring makes me happy, I like colouring different things. I like colouring unicorns. I give my colouring to people, it makes them smile and it makes me happy. I colour in every day.”
March

In March, Brandon announced the launch of the More Than A Provider partnership. Working alongside five not-for-profit providers, we explained the ways we will be working to create impactful change for the social care sector.
With Certitude, United Response, Dimensions, Choice Support, and MacIntyre, More Than A Provider organisations employ 21,000 people, support more than 12,000 people with disabilities, and deliver an annual budget of £650million of taxpayer funds from 285 local authorities in England and Wales.
April

Brandon partnered with Nuffield Trust in April to produce the ‘Preventing people with a learning disability from dying too young’ report.
Research shows that autistic people and with people with a learning disability, are highly likely to face health inequalities and that their life expectancy is much shorter than that of the general population.
Along with other social care providers, we worked with Nuffield Trust to investigate what the problems are and how they can be tackled.
May

Playlink’s mammoth 200-mile fundraising challenge launched in May. Playlink staff and supporters were raising funds for our holiday play schemes and summer camp by walking one mile for every child we support in South Gloucestershire.
The team met at Page Park in Staple Hill, Bristol, on 29 May and managed to cover 135 miles in seven hours on the day, with the target reached a couple of weeks later. Thousands of pounds were raised to provide new equipment and offer additional activities and trips.
June

A summer festival of fun for all the family marked a double celebration for Brandon Trust in June. The event at The Stoke Inn, Plymouth, coincided with our 30th birthday and Learning Disability Week – the annual campaign by Mencap to raise awareness of what life is like for those living with a learning disability.
Attended by people we support and their friends and families as well as our staff, the festival included a line-up of live music and a DJ, along with a fair and a host of other activities.
July

Brandon staff and trustees gathered at the Winter Gardens in Weston-super-Mare to celebrate our 30th birthday at the 2024 Staff Awards grand final.
Around 200 finalists and their guests were joined by Brandon trustees to announce the finalists in nine award categories and reveal the highly commended finalists and overall winners.
Award category presenters included Brandon’s Adventurers and supported employees at Brandon social enterprise Banwell Pottery, who made more than 400 30th anniversary finalists’ medals presented at our area events, as well as the 16 trophies handed to overall winners at the grand final.
August

A perfect example of the enabling support Brandon provides came in August, when we accompanied Lewis, a young man with Down’s syndrome, to the Boardmasters Festival in Cornwall.
This large-scale event, with a capacity of 58,000, was more than just a music festival for Lewis – it was a significant milestone in his journey toward greater independence and happiness.
Planning began months in advance to prepare Lewis for what to expect at the event, understanding what acts he wanted to see, and ensure he was equipped to navigate the huge crowds. Supporting Lewis at Boardmasters was about more than just ensuring his safety – it was about enabling him to fully immerse himself in an experience that brought him joy.
September

September saw Brandon staff and supporters take on a range of challenges to mark our 30th anniversary. The 30 for 30 fundraising challenges included walking 30 tors of Dartmoor in 30 days, dressing up in 30 different fancy dress costumes, and baking 30 different cakes.
Among the many people who took part in the challenge was Tracy Date, who started working at Brandon in 1995 as part of an NHS transferred workforce and is now our Chief Business Development, Enterprise and Partnerships Officer. She successfully completed 30 sea swims in 30 days.
October

One of the many projects Brandon’s Adventurers delivered in 2024 was MAPLE, working with researchers at The University of Bristol Medical School to develop accessible information leaflets for clinical trials.
Our dream is that in time, everyone will be able to be involved in research without any barriers, and this is going to help so much.
The Adventurers spent the day looking at information then translating it into words that everyone can understand. They also spoke about videos and podcasts, and other methods of communication that could be used.
November

Our high street shops pride themselves on being at the heart of their communities. They offer open employment opportunities to people with learning disabilities and money raised by the shops supports trainee placements to enable employment pathways.
In November, when our communities were blighted by storm damage and flooding, our shops stepped up to offer clothing, bedding, and household items for free.
Our North Street Bristol store celebrated its second birthday in November and our volunteering team marked a milestone when they welcomed their 50th recruit to the team to start their training and onboarding journey.
December

Our second annual Big Dip for Summer Camp took place at the beginning of December. Brave swimmers dived into the West Country Water Park in Bristol, Porth Beach in Newquay, Cornwall, and Clevedon Marine Lake in North Somerset. Participants were raising money for our annual summer camp for children we support.
The camp enables them to take part in high-risk activities such as abseiling, kayaking, and horse riding in a social setting away from the families – often giving them the first chance to experience independence. Children learn skills that increase their confidence and have a life-long impact.