Updates
Hope in 2025
December 24, 2025
We say it every year, but what a year it’s been! We’ve continued supporting children and young people across the UK who have a loved one with a serious illness, and have once again had the privilege of being alongside them as they go through the most difficult times.
We’ve worked on lots of outreach projects, met with new referral partners, come up with trips and activities we’ve never done before and, most importantly, been a listening ear for the hundreds of young people who need us.
Service demand
This year has seen over 380 children and young people access our support, with 175 of these attending sessions or activities for the first time. We’ve delivered one-to-ones in schools we’ve never worked in before, received referrals from other organisations who have found out about us for this first time this year, and launched new a brand new 18-25 peer group in Hereford – oh, and we’ve delivered over 1100 one-to-ones, 83 youth sessions, 15 activity days and two family days!
Volunteers and story-tellers
We are lucky at Hope to have some of the best volunteers – there’s our Y-Teamers who organised a bingo event to raise funds for the service, our youth session helpers who have consistently been on hand to keep our groups fun and safe, and our trustees who have all given up so much of their time to help ensure we’re working to our objectives in a legal and financially responsible way. It’s been another year where we couldn’t do what we do without each and every one of them.
This year has also seen lots of opportunity for our young people and families to tell their stories; our young volunteers used their experiences to feed back on resources designed by other organisations, we took part in the Nathan and Dad documentary for MTV, and one of our families was interviewed by BBC H&W ahead of the Children in Need appeal where they were able to share their journey with Hope.
Fundraising
Where would we be without our fantastic fundraisers?!
There’s been the wonderful team at PGL Alton Court raising money over the year with everything from sweepstakes to cake sales (and donating Christmas gift bags and Easter eggs for our young people!), HCR Law hosting one of their famous quiz nights in aid of Hope, the City of Hereford Boxing Club raising money for us at their junior boxing showcase, Hereford Young Farmer’s Club selecting us as the charity for their bonfire night, and our friends at Broome Farm collecting donations at their Blossom Walk, to name just a few.
There’s been some incredible individuals doing brilliant things too, from half-marathons to walking a mile a day – all pushing themselves to help us continue the vital work that we do. They, along with everyone else who has donated or supported us this year, are all superstars.
Activities
Where haven’t we been this year?! There’s been residentials, a treasure trail around Birmingham, a trip to We The Curious in Bristol, forest school days, small group days at the maize maze and archery centre, a VIP visit to Hay Festival and a trip to the trampoline park amongst other things – all giving young people the chance to meet others going through a similar thing, and have some much deserved fun.
We also held two family days this year thanks to the Herefordshire Community Foundation’s Better Together fund, again bringing people together to meet others who understand what they’re going through. First up was an activity day featuring lots of games and crafts, then we visited the Cotswold Wildlife Park where it was lovely to see our families spending some quality time together.
Support us
We have to find all of our own funding at Hope in order to keep doing this important work – so, if your workplace or club is looking for a charity to support in 2026, or you want to take on a personal challenge, please consider fundraising for us. 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.
