The dust has now settled on September and we can finally take stock of what we have achieved. September is a very important month for us for many reasons, but the most crucial being that it is the month where we run our September Challenge. The September Challenge has become the main source of income and has proved to be a success with our followers and supporters.
This September you have helped us raise a whopping £12,500. This is an extraordinary amount of money at a time when lots of other charities are folding, people are loosing their jobs and many have lost their lives and we have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the human spirit. Schools, businesses, sports clubs, the fire service, families and individuals all helped us reach this amazing total and the gratitude we feel is overwhelming.
Our primary aim has always been to raise enough money to fund a mental healthcare professional to support families being treated at The Great Western Hospital (GWH) in Swindon. This is still where the majority of the money will be going. We are working with the NHS to find an individual who can offer the families an excellent standard of care and how we will be funding this position moving forward. As with everything in 2020, it is taking time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are progressing and are hoping to have someone in post in the near future.
We are lucky to now be in a position where we can start to diversify what we can offer families. When we initially set up the charity we wanted to provide fund for families to access counselling services, but prioritised supporting families being treated at GWH.
As a result of this year's September Challenge we have the funds to start providing funding to families who may need counselling. This funding is available for families that are still receiving treatment or who are putting their lives back together after treatment has finished. We are working with an experienced counsellor based in Swindon who has an excellent understanding of the trauma caused by childhood cancer and offers sessions for individuals or the whole family. If you or a family you know would benifit from this service please follow this link to our referral page.
During the first COVID-19 lockdown we provided food parcels to families that were having to shield. After talking to these families it became clear that this was a service that needed to continue but in a more sustainable form. We decided to move this service froward in two ways:
Supplying meals for families being treated at Oxford Children's Hospital and are staying at Clic Court.
Providing food parcels for families that are experiencing added hardship during treatment.
We are very pleased that there are already meals in place at Clic Court and we have delivered a number of food boxes to families in need. We will continue to supply both of these services for as long as our fund will allow. Again, if you know of a family who may benefit from this service please click on this link to refer them to us.
We are very proud of what we have achieved in the last two years and we hope to continue for many, many more. We hope you will continue to follow our journey and support us in any way that you can.
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