The lovely Vasek Gryga from The Forest Inn is running/walking 80 miles in 24 hours to raise money for us!! He is doing this on Saturday 15th March 2025, and hopes to raise £2,500.00. This money would help us continue to support vulnerable children in our local area.
Please support him by sponsoring this amazing gesture. Every £1 will help towards his target. Let’s smash it!!! You can either donate on the link below or on the QR code below.
It’s been another tough year for local families. We have been inundated with referrals for beds, mattresses, toys, clothing, washing machines, toiletries, birthday & Christmas gifts, and most of all, food shopping. Families are living in severe poverty, and some have also gone through domestic violence, child neglect or abuse. It’s heart breaking, but with your help, we have managed to provide for them, and get them through another year. Some of the Christmas referrals are below – we provided Christmas gifts and food for these families.
“You have made my year so much better – you’re angels. I was panicking and feeling so bad – I told them they would have to wait until after Christmas, and now they don’t. Thank you xxxxx” This family even didn’t even have underwear!!
“Family referral from local school – parents aren’t eating, so their children can.”
“Family have been given a Section 21 notice. They have no money for food or Christmas presents. Child has very complex health needs – can’t afford to run car to get child to appointments.”
“School contacted Children’s Services as this mother only had 50p in her bank account. UC had been stopped “
“Family where the two children are young carers for their mum “
“Family living in temporary accommodation – children have birthdays in December, as well as the worry for Christmas”
“Mother moved with two young children due to domestic violence”
“Single parent who has severe mental health needs – father’s financial support stopped due to losing job – no money for Christmas”
“Children on child protection plan”
“Parent broke down in tears at a school meeting as she is struggling financially. Received an eviction notice early December due to Landlord selling property”
“Family fled domestic abuse and following a period on the refuge were given long term temporary accommodation”
So – Thank you all for your support – we couldn’t do this without you. Your generosity and kindness continues to overwhelm us, especially as the cost of living affects us all.
We hope you all have a lovely Christmas, and a Happy New Year
The Works in Poole have supported us again this Christmas. Thank you so much to your staff and customers for donating 15 large bags of gifts and toys!!! These will be so gratefully received by local children living in poverty
A huge thank you to Eve Harrison-Beck, and all her colleagues at both Poole and Bournemouth Hospitals; for this amazing collection of gifts! They will be making their way to new homes over the next two weeks, and will be so very gratefully received by children who would otherwise not receive a gift on Christmas Morning. Thank you!!!!
Everyone is welcome to come along. There will be a charity presentation and raffle on the night. Come and get Christmassy with us!
Thank you to Hoburne Dental Practice for being our sponsor for this event, and their generous donation of £750.00
Another huge shout out to Christchurch Living Advent Calendar and Loch & Quay for their support. These events take so much preparation and planning each year, and especially for small charities like ours, have such a positive impact on our fundraising and also on our charity awareness locally. Thank you!!!! Anna & Lynn
A massive thank you to Ferndown Forest Golf Club for raising £2,040.00 at their Pro AM Event. This is an amazing amount of money for us, and will be used to provide food shops and activities for local families in poverty during the Summer Holidays. Thank you to all your staff and customers.
Cartoon of a family playing golf, and riding in a golf cart together.
We are receiving so many sad requests for food shops. These are a few of the responses from this week alone:-
Conversation with Mum of 3-
“It’s so bad at the moment I’m really struggling”
“How much do you usually have to spend on your 3 children?”
“About £40- £50 once the rent etc goes out, I normally just buy the cheap food from Aldi”
Mum of 4 children:-
“110 pounds fortnightly That’s just on food, yes for us all -meals, nappies wipes. Toiletries I get separately from other shops. “
Family of 4:-
“We have £50 a week (2 teenagers and parents) to spend on food. My husband works part time as he and our children my carers
“So you have £200 for food a month, and use the foodbank ?”
“Yes, and the school help and give me meals that they have left over”
WHEN WILL THIS END? WE COULD RANT ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT; AND THE HUGE PROFITS SUPERMARKETS ARE MAKING – BUT WE WILL STAY PROFESSIONAL!!
Children are suffering, going hungry, which is affecting their mental health; welfare; education; friendships. If anyone can support us by making a regular donation (even £1-2 a month), we can continue to provide food shops for these families. We get countless referrals every day. We run the charity in our spare time, with no funding, so every penny really does make a difference. If you look at our Charity Accounts online – we pride ourselves on not taking expenses, and running the charity purely on a voluntary basis.
If your workplace could hold a charity event; or your school could run a sponsored event; or you can donate a small amount on a personal level, it would be gratefully received by ourselves and the families we support.
Wow! We are so proud to have reached this milestone. The two of us run the Charity in our spare time. We don’t always have the time to put posts on here, but we are actively receiving daily referrals from Social Workers, Midwives, Pastoral Support Workers, Police Liaison Officers etc. Providing food shops (we spent over £12,000 last year on food shops alone); beds, bedding, washing machines, fridges/fridge freezers, toys, clothing, baby equipment, birthday and Christmas presents etc.
We run purely on donations, with no Government support. The cost of living has impacted so many people in our Community, not only through increased poverty, but increased domestic violence, mental health illness, and suicides. We can only keep providing this service with support from local businesses and individuals.
How else can you help?
Could your school hold a sponsored event for us?
Could your workplace choose us as their Charity to support?
Could you set up a monthly donation to us (even £1.00 helps)?
Thank you for being with us for the last 10 years – we couldn’t do this without you!
Thank you to everyone who voted for us in the latest Tesco Grant Scheme (Blue Tokens) We received the most tokens, so are going to get a donation of £1,500.00!!!! This is an amazing amount of money for us, and will help us continue to provide much needed food shops for local families in poverty
Thank you so much to Charles Trent for choosing us as one of their charities to support this year. We are so grateful that local companies choose local charities. Their donations mean so much to us
That’s just on food, yes for us all -meals, nappies wipes. Toiletries I get separately from other shops. 
