The future

Introducing the Caudwell International Children's Centre

Caudwell Children has reached an important milestone in our 19 year history. A milestone which takes us a step closer to reaching our vision to create a better world for all disabled children. In May 2019, we officially opened the new Caudwell International Children’s Centre (CICC) located at Keele University in Staffordshire.

This £18million centre of excellence was generously funded by a group of philanthropists and corporate partners, whose donations were match-funded by John who personally donated over £10million to this important project. We affectionately call this group of visionaries our ‘Legacy Circle’.

Their legacy will support not only the few hundred children, but the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives that will be demonstrably improved thanks to the research and knowledge sharing we are now capable of delivering to a worldwide audience.

The Caudwell International Children’s Centre is a centre of excellence where our dedicated in-house clinical and research team and passionate operations team will collaborate with the NHS, the private sector and government to address the most significant health issues affecting children in this country. 

Our new autism pathway

...delivers timely assessments, feedback and practical support that helps families adapt their lives and help their child flourish. 

All of this is delivered in a purpose-built environment where children are free to be themselves while all of the specialist medical experts are under the same roof to make a quick but comprehensive assessment. From the point of referral this takes six weeks. Six weeks and the whole family’s future starts to look brighter.

That all sounds very nice I hear you say, but so what – that’s how it should be – and you're right! 

But that's rarely how it is:

• NHS guidelines state that a child with suspected autism should be assessed within 3 months. 

• A report by Sir David Lamb in 2018 found that on average children were waiting 799 days.

• Even worse, once an assessment is completed, families are waiting years for a formal diagnosis. Several families to have come to the centre have been waiting ten years. Ten years with their lives on hold. A childhood…lost!

By proving there is a better way to deliver autism assessment and support, then working in collaboration with the NHS and healthcare providers we can change these shocking statistics, lessen the financial burden on our already strained public services and help improve thousands of lives. ​

At Caudwell Children we do whatever it takes to give disabled children their childhood. 

We see the child, not the disability. We bring smiles, joy, independence, opportunity. We do this by removing the barriers that stand in some children’s way. Removing those practical barriers, changing public attitudes, changing government policy. 

All of this takes money. All this takes getting passionate people with a shared interest in helping others to work together. Because together we are stronger. Together we can change the world. One child at a time.

Join us in our mission to create a world where all disabled children and their families have choice, opportunity, dignity and understanding.