Friends Action North East is made possible by generous funding from the Northern Rock Foundation as well as a wide range of other funders too.

[FANE is funded by a grant from the Northern Rock Foundation R.W.MANN: REG CHARITY NO: 1095699 www.rwmanntrust.org.uk]

We are grateful to them all

The Coquet Trust - www.coquettrust.co.uk

Northern Rock Foundation - www.nr-foundation.org.uk

The Hadrian Trust - Reg charity no: 272161

The Sir James Knott Trust: Reg charity no: 1001363

Other important people include:

1. The FANE team
2. The FANE steering group
3. FANE volunteers

FANE looks to set standards of best practice and to act as a catalyst for the instigation and nurturing of friendship opportunities for adults with learning disabilities in the North East of England.

How FANE achieves its goals

FANE'S core values and practices are:

1. Small is beautiful (group size)
2. Everyone to do as much as possible for themselves getting to and being a part of the friendship group
3. Transport - independently decided and organized
4. Respect and kindness at all times
5. There should be every opportunity to practice reciprocity
6. Find and appreciate everyone's gifts
7. Promote and practice community connections, use the areas assets such as cafes, clubs, cinemas etc
8. Ensure and promote active and useful support from all sessional workers and volunteers
9. Friendship groups and activities should be led by members of the group not workers and volunteers
10. Encourage a 'Who can I invite mentality'

FANE achieves its goals by:

1. Creating this website to ‘spread the word’ about what FANE does and is and to also bring people with learning difficulties together within our virtual environment, The FANE Meeting Zone
2. Helping others, via formal training or informal guidance to deliver or help deliver support to adults with learning disabilities in line with our goals of encouraging friendships
3. Working hard to secure funding and volunteer involvement year on year, both of which are essential to the sustainability of this valuable project.

Watch short movies online now to learn more

The four short movies below will give you a greater insight into what FANE is and does.

Each of the movies addresses four topics, and the people you are listening to are FANE steering group members.

About Me - Margaret Cowle
Click here to watch film one now
Duration: 2 minutes
File size: 3.5mb
Download time: About 45 seconds on a broadband connection, about 5 minutes on dialup.

About Me - Richard Black
Click here to watch film two now
Duration: 2 minutes
File size: 3.6mb
Download time: About 45 seconds on a broadband connection, about 5 minutes on dialup.

About Me - Graham Newton
Click here to watch film three now
Duration: 2 minutes
File size: 3.3mb
Download time: About 45 seconds on a broadband connection, about 5 minutes on dialup.

About Me - Richard Goodfellow
Click here to watch film four now
Duration: 2 minutes
File size: 2.7mb
Download time: About 45 seconds on a broadband connection, about 5 minutes on dialup.