A film about Howard

Below is a short documentary film about Howard, a young man supported by Beyond Limits. It was made by Howard’s  second cousin, Jack Rowley. The film explores Howard’s extraordinary life, whilst exposing the terrifying condition that is Locked In Syndrome.

Howard’s YouTube channel

For more films, visit Howard’s YouTube channel.

A New Chapter: Leadership, Legacy, and Looking Forward

As many of you will know, this year’s staff retreat marked an important milestone in the Beyond Limits story, the start of a leadership transition that’s both heartfelt and full of promise.

After years of passionate leadership, Doreen Kelly, our founding Managing Director, has stepped into a new role as Non-Executive Director, with plans to retire in April 2026. Her influence and commitment to creating a different kind of organisation have left a lasting legacy. Doreen’s impact can be felt in every part of Beyond Limits, in the way we support people, the way we work together, and the values we hold ourselves to. At this year’s retreat, we took a moment to celebrate all that she’s done, with warm words, applause, and a few tears.

Stepping into the role of Managing Director is Rebecca Chadwick, who many of you will already know. Rebecca has been with Beyond Limits for over 11 years, starting as a team leader and growing into her leadership through deep personal reflection, lived experience, and learning. As she shared during the retreat, her journey began with a strong foundation of supportive colleagues, which has evolved over time via self-discovery and a commitment to growth.

In her words, “I started as a team leader many moons ago, where I earned my stripes and was taught the most by the lovely Kayleigh, which is where I began my own journey of self-discovery. It was here I learnt I needed to delve deeper than I ever had before.”

One book that had a big impact on Rebecca’s thinking was Time to Think by Nancy Kline. That discovery opened the door to working with Karen Mason, and to shaping a new kind of leadership culture, one rooted in reflection, voice, and personal strength.

Rebecca is now guiding Beyond Limits towards solidifying itself as a thinking organisation, one where everyone, from leadership to frontline staff to the people we support, can find their voice and lead from their best self.

Tools like PRINT reports have helped us start building a shared language around how we respond to challenges, how our ego can shape behaviour, and how we grow through self-awareness. It’s not about perfection. It’s about being able to respond with intention rather than emotion. This direction of travel is about all of us, not just those in formal leadership roles.

As Rebecca said, “We want to spend more time talking to each other, deciding what we need to focus on as a larger team of people upholding the values of Beyond Limits.”

By starting with ourselves, we strengthen the foundation for everything else, especially the relationships we build with the people we support.

The retreat marked the beginning of this next chapter. It’s not just a handover, it’s a continuation of everything Beyond Limits has stood for, with space for new thinking, shared leadership, and personal growth.

So here’s to Doreen, who built the platform.
Here’s to Rebecca, who’s ready to lead us forward.
And here’s to all of us, because we’re in this together.

A new report from NDTi: A Deep Dive into the Small Supports experience in Plymouth

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) has published a report, A Deep Dive into the Small Supports experience in Plymouth, looking at how Beyond Limits works as a Small Support provider. We were delighted to work on this project with NDTi and to showcase the magic that can happen when you support people in a truly bespoke way.

Small Supports are defined by NDTi on their website: https://www.ndti.org.uk/projects/what-are-small-supports.

There is growing evidence to show Small Supports offer a high quality, local alternative to large, often out of area providers. This is an approach that Beyond Limits have always advocated for and we also support other organisations looking to adopt this approach to deliver better outcomes for people.
Download the report here.

The report looked at nine people supported by Beyond Limits who agreed to share information about their lives and care focusing on:

• Wellbeing
• The cost of care and support to the individual
• Changes in their lives, health and behaviours and their effect on resources in other services and organisations.

Information for the report was collected through interviews with the people involved, their families and the supporting staff.

The report Contents are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Approach
3. Pen portraits
4. Analysis
5. Table 1 Summary of Costs and Benefits
6. Conclusions.

The Appendix includes methods used to collect information, seven case studies and links to useful resources.

Alex’s Holy Island beach walk

Alex has been supported by Beyond Limits since August and he is enjoying getting to know his team. He loves to be outdoors and enjoys walking, here he is with one of his team enjoying a day out on the beaches around Holy Island.

Alex is a member of the National Trust and English Heritage and he has a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. When he is not out and about, he enjoys baking and art. He also likes to visit different places for a cuppa and a slice of cake.

An inspiring poem by Mike Beason

We were very moved to receive this inspiring poem by Mike Beason. Mike is a Support Worker working for Beyond Limits.

Click on the poem for a larger version.

Beyond Limits Commitment to Net Zero & Developing Environmental Awareness

At Beyond Limits, we recognise our responsibility to minimise the environmental impact of our service delivery. We are fully committed to addressing the climate emergency and acknowledge the importance of reducing and mitigating any detrimental effects our operational activities may have on the environment.

To support this commitment, we have developed a Net Zero Action Plan, which outlines the steps we are taking to achieve net zero emissions by 2038—or sooner, where possible. We believe that our strategic and operational decisions can and should support environmental sustainability.

We have appointed an Environmental Champion who leads the promotion of the Net Zero agenda within our organisation. This individual is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the implementation of our climate emergency policy and action plan. Progress against the plan is monitored regularly and reported through our governance structures.

Beyond Limits is committed to actively promoting environmental awareness and sustainability. We recognise that the successful implementation of our environmental goals relies on integrating sustainable practices into our daily activities and encouraging active participation from our staff and the people we support. Together, we can play our part in safeguarding the future of our planet.

To further support this mission, we have created an Environmental Policy full of practical ideas to help everyone within our organisation protect the environment and build greater environmental awareness.

We believe that we can all make a difference and a good start is by following the five R’s below…

• REDUCE the materials we use and waste we produce
• RE–USE and RECYCLE materials wherever possible
• RESTORE what is deemed to have been destroyed
• RESPECT our neighbours and our environment.

Our policy has helpful information on energy, paper, plastic, transport, re-use and re-cycling.

You can download the full policy here.