2020 Round Up!
What a year it has been! Thank you all for the wonderful continued support, we would not be here today if it wasn’t for you.
Your Fantastic Fundraisers
We have been overwhelmed by the amazing fundraisers you, our supporters, have hosted throughout the year. From stair climbing, Half Marathons and 10K runs to head shaving, tea drinking and online raffles, we have loved seeing your fantastic efforts and thank you all for your kind generosity. Together, you have raised an incredible amount and it will all help to make such a difference.
Here is a photo of superhero Kayden, who previously accessed our services and later raised an amazing £1,220 through getting his haircut. He was even nominated for a Pride of Britain Award for his incredible support – well done and thank you Kayden and Family.
Becoming Virtual
Like many other businesses and organisations, this year has seen our services being reformatted to be run virtually and earlier this month, we successfully brought our first ever Zoom 9-week group programme to a close and are now preparing for the start of our second virtual group in the new year. Our clinician’s have also been busy with our Advice Line and have launched online school consultations and training packages. You can read more on how we have been working differently by clicking here.
The restrictions have made our fundraisers work slightly more difficult, with most of our events having been postponed or cancelled. Despite this, we have been able to host a few smaller online fundraisers and are busy planning an array of fantastic events for 2021, which will mark the charities 25th Anniversary. So far, our events line up includes; a Summer Fair, 15,000ft Skydive, Spooktacular Ball and the Mayflower 400(+1) Running Festival. Please click here for more information on our events.
Follow The Bear
At the end of September, our Charity Support Network hit 1 Year and despite 2020 not being the year we had hoped, #FollowTheBear has still been a great success. The initiative was launched to help reduce the charities waiting list, which we have very happily achieved and now have over 50 members supporting us to help meet the ever-increasing demand for our services.
So far, nearly all of our members, patrons and partners have opted to renew their membership and we hope this continues into the new year as more renewal dates approach. Some of our members have even gone above and beyond with their support, with patron Moortec match-funding Radiance’s Dancethon and Jarvis Nuclear launching an urgent support campaign to compromise for our losses as we first headed into lockdown.
For more information on Follow The Bear and to join today, please visit www.followthebear.org.uk.
Lots of Marvelous Donations
The generosity of the local community has been more incredible than ever this year, with lots of fantastic donations being received. From funds raised at school mufti days, to being selected as businesses’ charity of the year and one-off and monthly donors, we are so thankful for the wonderful support we have received.
In September, we were delighted to announce that we had received an amazing grant from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Coronavirus Support Fund. With this, we have launched our Recover Together Project, supporting vulnerable children and young people, who are suffering due to the death of a family member during the pandemic. We are so thankful for the opportunity of these funds and the other wonderful grants we have received.
A Selection of our Favourite Photos
