Updates
2024, In Review
December 24, 2024
Well that’s it – another year over and done with! As always it’s been a busy one, as we continue to support children and young people across the UK who have a loved one with a serious illness.
Service demand
This year has seen over 420 children and young people access our support, with over 150 of these attending sessions or activities for the first time. We’ve received referrals from schools and local organisations that have never referred before, showing more and more people are finding out about the work we do – this has led us delivering almost 1400 one-to-ones, and over 100 youth sessions and activity days.
Y-Team and volunteers
Ever since the start of Hope, the young volunteers on our Y-Team have been a key part of the work we do – using their experiences of having a loved one with a serious illness to help make sure our service is something young people want to be a part of. This year they’ve given up their own time to lead activities at our residential, interviewed prospective trustees, helped us out at events, provided peer support and much, much more.
It’s not just our Y-Team that donate their time, as we have a fantastic team of adult volunteers who have helped us out at our sessions and events this year – they make a huge difference, and deserve a special mention!
Fundraising
This year we have been selected as the charity of the year for a number of businesses this year, including the Ross on Wye branch of HCR Law, PGL’s head office, and Siltbuster in Monmouth. They’ve been busy fundraising for us through equipment auctions, Christmas raffles, walkathons and a whole host of other activities.
We can’t name everyone who has helped us out this year as it would be a very long post, but to give you a quick flavour of the sorts of thing people have got up to – Ross on Wye Cider and Perry Co chose us to benefit from donations at their blossom walk, Malvern St. James Girls School fundraised for us at their commemoration day service, MadSat Raft Team raised money for us at their raft races, The Studio With Tasha collected for us at their yearly Christmas workout party, and Kilpeck Pantomime Society picked us to donate to from their annual panto. Whew…
Some wonderful individual and families also got in on the act, either by taking on challenges like open water swims or Tough Mudder events, as well as collecting donations for us on social media or fundraising pages. A lot of our fundraisers have a personal connection to Hope, and we cannot thank them enough for helping ensure our service can continue for other young people and families who need us.
Activities
Once again, we’ve been across Herefordshire and beyond, as we bring young people together with others who know what they’re going through. The biggie this year was our annual residential, where 19 young people took on activities like canoeing, climbing, abseiling, crate stack and more. Trips like these are so important as some of our young people may not get the opportunity to go on holidays or days out with what’s going on at home, and we think they deserve some much needed fun.
We’ve also visited Cadbury World, worked on a filming project with professionals from Sky and the BBC, had a day out in the countryside at Jamie’s Farm, got outdoorsy at Madley Environmental Centre, learnt some important skills on a first aid course, went to Air Hop, took part in a memory afternoon, had group meals on on difficult occasions like Mother’s Day, went bowling… we need a lie down!
Support us
None of the work we do is possible without the help of our funders, donors and supporters – please consider us if your workplace or social group is looking for a charity raise funds for, or if you’re planning to take on a sponsored challenge. If you would like to make a donation in order to help us continue supporting the young people who need us, please head to the donate page.
So that’s that… all that’s left to say is bring on 2025!
