The Fifth Trust charity began in 1990 with a simple belief: that education, skills training, and meaningful opportunities can transform the lives of adults with learning disabilities.
Since then, we have grown and evolved, but our focus remains the same – empowering our students to do and be the best they can, every day.
Our Elham Valley Vineyard was planted, becoming one of the earliest vineyards in Kent – now a leading wine-growing region in the country.
A group of families came together to create five supportive, comfortable homes in East Kent for their loved ones with learning disabilities. Their aim was to give residents access to the special facilities and professional care they needed to enable them to be as independent as possible.
The Fifth Trust charity was set up to provide educational, vocational and recreational activities for the residents and other people with learning disabilities living in the local community.
We opened our first day centre in Barham.
We expanded to a second centre at the Elham Valley Vineyard.
The café was built at Elham Valley Vineyard.
Vineyard Garden Centre opened.
We started providing remote and hybrid learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We proudly opened brand new facilities at our Barham Skills Centre after a successful £2 million fundraising campaign.
FTConnect, our virtual learning platform, launched for our students and the public.
We began offering Unit Award Scheme courses for our students, created by The Fifth Trust and formally recognised by the AQA exam board.
We continue to grow and evolve, offering more than 20 activities across two sites for students aged 16 to 70+, whether they live with family, in supported living, or in residential care.
