MERU, a part of the QEF group of charities, is a charity that creates unique, assistive products for disabled children and young people. Their workshop team adapt mainstream toys, so they are user friendly for disabled children. And at Christmas they transform into Christmas elves which is delightful!
Learn more about their switch adapted toys here.
“Being able to have some accessible toys to play with is great, and definitely brings big smiles to tiny faces, but we’re also helping their parents to help them learn and develop in important areas too.”
Once the switches are adapted, the team take extra special care to try to repack it like new so the child receives what looks like a new, boxed toy like their peers.
If interested in a role with MERU or QEF role please contact:
Hazel on 07771 575198, Hazel.Drye@qef.org.uk or https://www.qef.org.uk/get-involved/volunteering/for more details, quoting you found out about it through Volunteer Centre Sutton.
“Mark came to visit MERU when he was just 8 years old, as he suffered from a rare form of cerebral palsy called Worster-Drought Syndrome, which affected the control he had of his mouth. We built Mark a small timer box – complete with a light indicator, which would sit on his desk at school to remind him when it was time to stop, relax and swallow. This little device helped to transform Mark’s life and he was so inspired by the work that the engineers had done at MERU, he always aspired to work for a company like us when he was older…. and that he did!
10 years ago, Mark returned to MERU as a volunteer engineer, starting by visiting our warehouse after work. When Mark sadly lost his Mother he found it harder to work, so he came to volunteer for us here more and more each week because he found so much enjoyment in what he does and it helped him through a tough time. Now, Mark works as an employed member of staff here at MERU, as an engineer and managing all of our volunteers who support us here.
“My dream came true of wanting to work at MERU. They have been so supportive of me when my cerebral palsy was seen as an ‘issue’ to other employers.”
He says “Our volunteers are absolute stars! Their invaluable work ensures all the toys are adapted and delivered on time for the big day!”
“Hi, my name is Clare. I volunteer at MERU in Carshalton.
I had previously volunteered with Meals on Wheels in Sutton, but I've got dodgy knees so I had to give that up. As I had time on my hands I was looking on the Sutton Volunteering website for something else.
MERU appealed to me, it is a local charity that helps disabled children all over the country. At MERU as well as developing and providing, free to families, the Bugzi, a small, very cute powered wheelchair for young children aged 1-6, they also develop and make unique assistive products for people who are disabled.
MERU also adapt toys, so that they can be used by the children with a wide variety of accessible switches. We have a happy band of regular volunteers who help with this process. I do some admin work and once the toys, those furry all singing and all dancing creatures have been opened up to be adapted, I sew them back up again.
I enjoy the time I spend at MERU, I work with some very nice people and it gives me a sense of satisfaction to be doing something useful.”
“My name is Warwick, at the moment I volunteer one day a week for MERU (Mechanical Engineering resource unit) which is part of Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for disabled people. I have been volunteering there for about 6 years now. The function of MERU is to adapt toys so that children with disabilities are able to play with them. Most of the time this involves taking the toy apart and soldering in a plug to which a big external button can be attached. Sometimes more than one plug is soldered in. The toy then has to be re-assembled and tested.
In the past I have volunteered with The Orpheus Centre and the Downlands Partnership. The Orpheus Centre is a specialist independent college for young disabled adults and I used to help out there one day a week for about 4 years, the work involved helping and encouraging young adults with learning difficulties become more independant. Unfortunately I had to stop working there because I needed to care of a sick family member and was not able to reliably do my once a week volunteering. The Downlands Partnership involved working outside mainly clearing patches of scrub on the North Downs. This encourages rare wild flowers to grow on the relatively poor soil, which in turn attracts rare butterflies. Some of the work also involves making/repairing steps and fences and cutting back growth on footpaths. The work is quite tough and I have recently made the decision to stop volunteering there for the sake of my health.
I always knew that when I retired, that I wanted to get involved in volunteering, I just didn’t know what. So soon after I retired I went down to the local volunteering centre in Oxted and asked what was available. The centre put me in touch with the Orpheus Centre and gave me the details of the Downlands Partnership. While I was looking after my sick relative, my brother-in-law retired and started volunteering at MERU and thought that I might like to volunteer there as well. I love doing practical work like making or repairing things, so the volunteering at MERU suits me very well.
At Orpheus, helping the young adults I got a real sense of making a difference and it was very rewarding. The permanent staff were always so thankful for what we did, they would not have been able to function without the volunteers. Downlands was more about helping conservation and the physical challenge and again the volunteers were essential to get the work done. At MERU we have no interaction with the disabled children who will ultimately use the toys that we convert, but they are always in my thoughts when I am converting the toys. It gives me great pleasure to know that I am making a difference.
I have really enjoyed my various volunteering jobs that I have done over the last 10 and a half years since retiring. It certainly gives you a purpose in life after retirement and the camaraderie is great. The best thing for me is that there is no stress, at the end of the day you turn up and do a much or as little as you can and the permanent staff are always very grateful.”
Organisations mentioned:
QEF/MERU: https://www.qef.org.uk/get-involved/volunteering/
Downlands Trust: https://www.downlandstrust.org.uk/volunteering.html
Meals on Wheels: http://www.suttonlodge.org.uk/volunteers.html
The Orpheus Centre: https://www.orpheus.org.uk/volunteering/
Click for more details, quoting you found out about it through Volunteer Centre Sutton. You can find some specific roles and more on Simply Connect.
If you’re interested in anything get in touch and we can help you out: https://vcsutton.org.uk/volunteer/
