Contact a Family and the Lady Hoare Trust for Physically Disabled Children (LHT) formally merged on 1st December 2004 following several months of negotiations.

In 1962 the tragedy of Thalidomide struck some 600 families in the UK. Lady Mary Hoare, wife of the then Lord Mayor of London, established a trust to raise money and help the children who were born with missing limbs whether due to the Thalidomide drug or not.

She was ahead of her time in knowing that children cared for in their own homes would have a better chance of development than they would living in residential centres.

In the late 60's Distillers, who marketed the drug, made a financial settlement to the families of children affected by Thalidomide and The Thalidomide Trust was set up to manage that settlement. Any money that LHT had been given purely for thalidomide children was passed to that Trust.

LHT continued to work with children with missing limbs but also began to specialise in conditions affecting limbs such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis - an excruciatingly painful condition which can affect children as young as 10 months. The Trust employed a team of professional social workers across the UK to provide support to families both in hospital clinics and at home.

Registered Charity No. 284912. Charity registered in Scotland No. SC039169
Company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 1633333.
HM Revenue & Customs charity tax reference No. XN54769. VAT Reg. No. GB 749 3846 82