On Friday I was lucky enough to visit the Calvert Trust in Kielder. It is a long overdue visit although their success and good work are well known, not only in the north but all across the country - they have centres in the northern Lake District and Exmoor. They provide disabled men, women and children an incredible opportunity to engage in sports that would normally be beyond them. They are also outstanding at providing individual respite care and the chance for supported holidays for families. They are also a significant local employer. If you have not seen their website I recommend it wholeheartedly: http://www.calvert-trust.org.uk/kielder/kielder
In the meantime I must credit all the local supporters of the Calvert Trust - not least Egger in Hexham who have chosen to continue to support Calvert Trust Kielder as their charity of the year for a further two years.
PS:
This blog also likes to provide a little more for its 15,000+ readers so to understand why this groundbreaking charity has its name we have to go back over 200 years, to the Calvert Family, who previously owned the Lake District site that was the first site of the Lake District location of the Calvert Trust. Raisley Calvert had grown up with William Wordsworth, the famous poet and writer, and this childhood friendship continued into adulthood.
It was Raisley Calvert’s desire that his friend be able to continue his writing and he encouraged him all he could. However, by the age of 21 Raisley had developed tuberculosis and was dying. As he faced death, he wanted Wordsworth to fulfil his writing potential and a legacy, including Old Windebrow Cottage, in the Lake District was arranged to allow Wordsworth to continue with his poetry full time.
As we all know, Wordsworth went on to fulfil his own potential and leave his own literary legacy - he even wrote a poem dedicated to his friend Raisley Calvert.
So when the Trust was proposed in the last century - a name was needed to represent friendship, support and the desire to help somebody to fulfil their potential: unsurprisingly they chose the name Calvert, given the links and the desire to help make a difference. It is an impressive organisation run by dedicated and special people.
