email: disabled@martha-trust-hereford.org.uk



MARTHA TRUST HEREFORD
was established in 1996, as a registered charity, to provide lifelong and respite care for young people with profound intellectual and physical disabilities.

The founding Trustees, Sarah and Richard Smith, began the fundraising for the new, purpose built home 3 years previously, when their second daughter Sophie who is very handicapped was just four years old.

They were determined not only to provide the right care for their daughter, whatever her future needs may be, but also to help other families in similar situations.

All our young patients are completely dependent on others for their every need and they are given constant loving attention by our nursing staff and carers, allowing and encouraging them to develop to their full potential.



A loving home environment is our objective and Martha House is deliberately small to create a family atmosphere. All nursing and care staff receive training on a regular basis, to improve the quality and variety of care available to our patients, and carers work on a one-to-one basis with the patients.
The whole nursing home has been carefully designed for wheelchair users and incorporates a wide variety of specialised fittings, such as baths, hoists and sound activated alarms.

The Therapy Centre attached to the home offers a wide range of therapies including: hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, aromatherapy, music, art, speech and multi-sensory therapies.

Use of the Therapy Centre is also available on an outpatient basis to anyone in the community with an appropriate medical need. The large garden which surrounds the buildings has been designed and planned to incorporate special play equipment for children in wheelchairs, and to provide important elements for therapy and sensory stimulation.

The building of Martha House was completed in November 1996 and it is managed on a not-for-profit basis by a Board of local Trustees who include the Founders of the Trust. The first patient was welcomed to the home in January 1997.

Every patient has his or her own bedroom, with accommodation for a maximum number of 13 patients at any one time. The home is registered by Herefordshire Health Authority as a Nursing Home to provide permanent and respite care for both children and adults. The people living at Martha House have complex needs, and are totally dependent, requiring constant attention and nursing care.

No age limits apply to the home so that people are not required to move to another home at the age of eighteen, when they cease to be recognised, in law, as a child. This gives, most importantly, continuity of care for patients and reassurance to their parents and family.

Parents and relatives are welcome to visit at any time, and we have a special room set aside to enable them to stay overnight. In addition, the views and wishes of parents are constantly sought and respected when the patients’ individual care plans are being drawn up and regularly reviewed.

 
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Richard Smith  (Chairman)           Susan Smith  (Secretary)
Bert Priday             Sarah Sharp-Smith              Alastair Stewart



MARTHA TRUST HEREFORD LTD
Registered Company No. 3164820
Registered Charity No. 1053448