The house that Percy built

But children and adults from every corner of the region regard the Foundation as a home from home and a symbol of hope.

"I've known mums who come to have a look around our facilities and burst into tears because they can't believe what we have got here," says Nicola Turnbull, who manages the foundation's adult day care services.

And while the staff play down their achievements, many children do make tremendous progress thanks to the intensive methods used at Percy Hedley.

Using "conductive education" methods, borrowed from the world-famous Peto Institute in Hungary, a multi-disciplinary team containing doctors and therapists works together to extend the boundaries of what each individual can do.

Cerebral palsy affects the motor centre of the brain, which can result in severe physical and intellectual disability. For some children afflicted in this way, just to be able to sit up or take a few steps is a huge achievement.

A tour of the leafy main site in Forest Hall, a suburb on the northern fringes of Newcastle, is impressive. As well as a primary and a secondary school in nearby Killingworth, the foundation has well-equipped and spacious day care and residential facilities. The foundation even has a pre-school service for children and their families which is completely free.

The main site is an eye-opener, with a covered "street" of specially-equipped bungalows tucked behind the main buildings surrounded by trees and shrubs. Each of the residents lives independently but with specialist care just a few steps away. And all of them overlook wheelchair-friendly decking with a gushing stream running past their back doors.

Jim Ferris, the softly-spoken Ulsterman who has been chief executive of the foundation for the last decade, is proud of what has been achieved in the half century since the organisation was founded.

"I can honestly say there is nothing like this in the country. As an organisation, we are unique," says Jim, who has been associated with the foundation for 20 years.

While the foundation may not have a high regional profile outside Tyneside, its reputation is attracting international attention. Currently, it is in talks with groups from Poland and the Lebanon who wish to copy the success of the Newcastle experiment.

And those in the know are queuing up to secure school, day centre or residential places.

"The beauty of this place is that we have everything here under one roof instead of running around to different hospitals," says Jim Ferris.

Around 180 children attend the two schools, with another 30 families making use of the pre-school facilities.

Jim says the number of places is about right on the school side but the shortage of suitable day care facilities or residential facilities in the North-East means there is a waiting list for places.

Currently the centre has 50 residents and around 54 travelling in on a daily basis, some from as far away as Spennymoor and Sunderland.

"Unfortunately the waiting list for our day services is growing all the time. We now have about 25 waiting for a place," says Jim.

At the centre of the Newcastle site is Hampeth Lodge, the large Victorian house bought in 1953 by the trustees of the Percy Hedley Will Trust and converted into the region's first school for children with cerebral palsy.

Percy Hedley was a draper's son, born in North Shields in 1865, who trained as a marine engineer before marrying Lillian Dove, the daughter of John Dove, a local builder's merchant. The couple had no children. When he died, in 1941, the trustees found that Mr Hedley wanted all of his money to be used to support charitable purposes in the North-East.

In 1950, the recently formed Friends of the Spastic Children North-East Area identified Hampeth Lodge as an ideal site for a school. By using £6,000 from the Percy Hedley Will Trust - a very large sum in those days - the Friends were able to purchase and convert the property into a school.

It opened on February 16, 1953, for 12 children with cerebral palsy.

These days most of the foundation's income comes from referrals from local education authorities or social services, topped up by individual benefits.

But Percy Hedley has also been handsomely supported by local people.

"Fund raising is very important to us. I reckon in seven years we have raised £7m," says Jim. This level of support is reflected in the 150 entrants who will be running for Percy Hedley in this year's Great North Run.

One of the advantages of being a charity is that, unlike local authorities, the foundation can apply for a range of grants. Along with the generosity of local people, this has helped them expand in recent years.

"We opened a new school a year ago and a new 16-plus centre opened six months ago. We are not doing too badly," says Jim.

Nicola Turnbull, who has worked in the public sector before joining Percy Hedley, admits to being amazed at the quality of accommodation and the generous staff-client ratio.

"I knew about the school but knew nothing about the adult side. When I came for a look around I was absolutely amazed. It is beautiful and very well-resourced," she says.

Daryn Robinson, 39, from West Boldon, agrees. He started attending Percy Hedley school when he was four and has lived there since he was 29.

"It's just a great place, there is so much to do here," says Daryn, who uses his wheelchair to good effect in the regular powerchair football and rugby matches which take place in the foundation's sports hall.

With tongue slightly in cheek Jim Ferris points out that Percy Hedley is the world leader in powerchair rugby. "We invented it, you see," he says, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Percy Hedley is about to get bigger thanks to a proposed merger with the Northern Counties School for the Deaf in Jesmond, Newcastle, which is expected to result in expansion into a large new site. And extra capacity is certainly needed if trends continue: advances in medicine mean that more severely disabled cerebral palsy babies are surviving.

"The number of more severe cases is increasing because those kids would not have survived a few years ago," says Jim.