The Fantastic Freddie Foundation is a registered charity based in Sutton that provides regular social and leisure opportunities for young disabled adults so this underserved community is able to enjoy their lives and have fun! Our Manager, Charlie, founded the charity after his friend Freddie Lawer. Freddie was an inspirational young man who never let his disabilities get in the way of having fun and enjoying his life as much as possible! The foundation is set up to give other people in Freddie’s community the opportunities he was lucky to have in life.

The opportunities available to this community of young adults are often largely infantilised and still designed for children. Our events are not patronising, always age appropriate and give our members an authentic experience of whatever they have signed up for.

All the work we do is about ensuring the disabled community is able to like their youth the way they want to, try new things and ensure they have the same opportunities in life as their non disabled peers. Our services always encourage independence, positive risk taking and the embracement of young adulthood.

Events and Initiatives

After education, the disabled community often lacks the chances to meet new people and engage with a regular social group. Further on, once you hit 25 most services for young people stop completely. Our initiatives provide people with the ongoing opportunity to socialise and have fun from the age of 15 up to and beyond the age of 25. All of our events and initiatives are decided by our client group by engaging with our community through site visits and focus groups. We always make sure our services are centered around fun, accessibility and socialising.

Our monthly initiatives include Pan Disability Football Sessions - this monthly initiative gives our members the chance to sharpen their skills, try something new and just have fun in a relaxed environment! Partnered with Premier League Disability Coaches, the sessions are focused on

socialising and enjoying yourself so any ability can come and join in. We also run sports specific sessions each month that focus on a different sport each time, so people have the chance to try new sports and find their niche!

Most notably perhaps is our relationship initiative Mates and Dates! This is a monthly event that creates a relaxed and safe environment for people with additional needs to come and engage in fun workshops. Through these workshops our service users will get to naturally meet new people and form connections either in a romantic or a friendship sense, in a stress free environment. This initiative is something that has been so needed in our community, we have been told time and time again by our members how they struggle to form relationships, make friends or find a romantic partner.

We are also partnering with legendary Garage DJ Scott Garcia’s brand It’s a London Thing and DJ equipment tycoon Pioneer to bring our members the chance to learn how to mix like a pro and spark an interest in a new hobby! This is a brilliant monthly opportunity for up to 10 of our members to learn from the best, with the best. The FFF x It’s a London Thing DJ Academy, powered by Pioneer is due to launch this June!

Alongside these we run up to 3 extra individual events a month which aim to give our members the chance to experience something new with their peers. This year these will include Themed Club Nights, Festival Trips, Adapted Driving Lessons and Experiences, Wellness and Pampering Days, Boat Trips, Martial Arts workshops, Summer Parties and a Surfing Trip to Wales.

All of our events are heavily subsidised or free to make sure money is not another barrier for this community.

Read more about the difference the Fantastic Freddie Foundation makes