One Gift, Many Futures: How a Legacy Is Shaping Early Years Support at KEEN

One Gift, Many Futures: How a Legacy Is Shaping Early Years Support at KEEN

Last year, KEEN London received its first-ever legacy. A gift, left in the will of someone that wanted to support local children with additional needs and disabilities. We used that gift to invest in Rising Stars, our preschool service helping children with additional needs and disabilities, and their families, access support from the very earliest stages.

One year on, Rising Stars sessions have grown from once a fortnight to once a month. We have taken the time to review where we can reach more families and just this week are meeting new families at our new venue in Brixton.

We share a couple of examples of the difference a little early intervention and support can make for families not sure where to turn.

Abdul attended Rising Stars sessions with his mother, who engaged closely with the support on offer throughout the programme. Alongside the sessions themselves, she received practical guidance completing her son’s Disability Living Allowance (DLA) application. She was also referred […]

September 3rd, 2026|Categories: latest fundraising, supporters|Tags: Gifts in wills, legacies, London charity|

A day at the zoo

A day at the zoo

KEEN London Takes on London Zoo

This was the biggest all-site trip we have ever undertaken.

It was hot, there was a lot of walking, a fair few crowds, and of course all manner of sights and sounds to take in — but wow, did our athletes and coaches smash it!

Deciding to hire coaches made all the difference. Our explorers arrived cool (thank you, air conditioning) and regulated, rather than having to tackle public transport on top of everything else the day had in store. We split our group of nearly 40 into smaller teams, each with a team leader and an expert counter, and at every point throughout the day I could see and hear the head counts going on around me. No athletes were getting left behind today.

I was the photographer for the day, and honestly, I had the best job, […]

August 3rd, 2026|Categories: days out|

Finding friendship without words

Finding friendship without words

Some friends talk with words.
Some friends talk with smiles.
And some friends talk through friendship, the truest voice of all.

That’s the idea at the heart of Playing Together, a beautiful new picture book written by KEEN London parent Jovita Lall, inspired by and dedicated to her son Ryan, one of our KEEN athletes.

If you’re new to us: KEEN London runs free, weekly one-to-one supported sports and activity sessions for children with additional needs across London giving them an accessible space to play, move, and be themselves.

We’ve been waiting for exactly the right moment to share this news, and today, International Day of Friendship, felt like it. Playing Together is a gentle reminder that friendship doesn’t depend on spoken words. At KEEN London over 70% of the children that attend sessions have autism and over 50% are non-speaking. For these […]

July 29th, 2026|Categories: latest news, Uncategorized|

Spring party photo’s

Spring party photo’s

At the end of March we had the pleasure of welcoming athletes past and present for our Spring party.

Seeing children who’ve grown up with KEEN come back, hearing from parents about the confidence and growth they’ve witnessed – this is why we do what we do. Every session, every coach, every moment.

A huge thank you to the funders, supporters and amazing volunteers that make days like this possible. An additional thanks to the
Carebears (kindly on loan from Rainbow Mascots) and our fabulous friends at D & D parties.

April 4th, 2026|Categories: celebration, days out|

National adoption week

National adoption week

What resources would you recommend to anyone starting the adoption process? We asked some of our alumni volunteer coaches who have successfully adopted to share for #nationaladoptionweek

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of this collection. Please get in touch if you are a KEEN London volunteer looking for support as part of adoption or looking to start the adoption process and after some hands on volunteering. We have a lovely sharing community and plenty of adoptive parents happy to share their stories and support your journey.

Find out more about starting your volunteer journey with KEEN London here

October 23rd, 2025|Categories: Adoption|

Thank you Fred

Thank you Fred

This week KEEN London is joining hundreds of charities across the UK to say “Thanks to” everyone who chooses to leave a gift in their Will.

This #Remember A Charity Week we pay special thanks to a recent legacy that has allowed us to double the capacity of our early years Rising Stars service. With this unexpected gift we have been able to reach more families and provide support at an early age. We are delighted to be able to provide this support to local families at a time when so many services are being cut or reduced.

We want to take this opportunity to remind our supporters that gifts in wills of any size can make a huge difference, from new equipment, a first residential weekend or a new service. For small charities like ours the impact can be life changing for the many children and families that rely on our services.

Find out more about making a gift in […]

September 8th, 2025|Categories: latest news|

Campfires & ziplines – the 2025 residential!

Campfires & ziplines – the 2025 residential!

What a weekend! Our athletes climbed rocks, soared on zip lines, built, sang, danced and laughed.
They made friends, chose their own meals, tackled fears and discovered courage they didn’t know they had.
For many, it was their first night away from home — and they came back braver, more confident, with new skills and memories that will last forever.
Moments like this change lives for children who so often miss out.

Just a few of the many many memories created, thank you to all our volunteers, funders and supporter for making the magic possible!

Link to the full gallery here

July 31st, 2025|Categories: residential, Uncategorized|

Payroll Giving Month – donating more can cost less

Payroll Giving Month – donating more can cost less

We want to give a shout out to the #PayrollGivingMonth campaign, raising awareness of an easy tax-efficient way of donating to charity.

With payroll giving a monthly or yearly donation can be taken from your salary each payday, before tax is deducted, meaning you pay less tax.

For example, if a 20% taxpayer donated £5 through payroll giving, they will only pay £4 with the taxman covering the remaining amount.

Payroll giving is a simple and cost-effective way to give, yet only 36% of people have heard of it and only 4,000 UK businesses offer it as a perk to their employees.

Ask your employer if they operate the scheme and if not let them know it is very easy to set up and a great benefit to offer staff. Send them over to https://www.payrollgivingmonth.com for more information.

To understand how your donation makes a difference visit our donation page here

February 27th, 2025|Categories: latest fundraising, latest news|

WELLBEING AND DENTAL DAY, TOP TIPS FOR PARENTS

WELLBEING AND DENTAL DAY, TOP TIPS FOR PARENTS

At the end of last year, our East London KEEN Club hosted a wellbeing day featuring yoga and mindfulness with local instructor Guppy, and dental health led by KEEN London coach and qualified dentist Dr. Charlie.

Guppy began the day with a relaxing sound bath and yoga session (video here) before Dr. Charlie shared some top tips on dental hygiene with our athletes and their parents. Dr Charlie showed us how to brush our teeth correctly, how to check for plaque and provided fun ways to make teeth cleaning a little easier ( take a look at what we got up to here).

Scroll through some of Dr. Charlie’s dental tips for helping children with additional needs, who often struggle with the sensory aspects of teeth cleaning. Whether it’s the taste, the foamy texture, or the brushing itself, we hope these tips make the process easier.

Our thanks to Dentaid, the dental charity for providing the resources for […]

January 29th, 2025|Categories: latest news|

Over 800 hours and 300 sessions – thank you Coach Ann

Over 800 hours and 300 sessions – thank you Coach Ann

Thanking and acknowledging the amazing people that make KEEN Club possible is so important. After 5 sessions our new (ish) volunteers get presented with their KEEN T shirt, after 25 sessions it’s a superhero KEEN T shirt and at 100 we give out our very special KEEN hoodies. But 300 sessions, that is something entirely different!

With over 300 sessions under her superhero belt Ann has provided over 800 hours of 1:1 support to hundreds of children with additional needs and disabilities across London. This unique 1:1 support gives children the opportunity to try new things, learn new skills, improve their confidence, independence, make friends and of course have fun! Ann joined us in the Spring of 2014, pretty much 10 years ago. Coming to KEEN can hardly have been a break from her day job since Ann has been working with children for a long time but she clearly loves it, which is great because Ann we love you!

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March 19th, 2024|Categories: latest news|