Big Give Goes Live
News article from December 1, 2020
SHS: The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2020 launches today!
This Christmas, we are once again taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge. We hope to raise £25,000 to support vulnerable children and families, many of whom have been hardest hit by COVID-19. Donations made to our Big Give page between midday 1st December and midday on 8th December will be matched by our generous pledgers and champions, meaning every donation will have twice the impact!
SHS is needed now more than ever before. In the UK nine children in every class of 30 live in poverty. Poverty has a huge negative impact on children’s educational attendance, engagement and attainment. This has been made so much worse by the impact of the pandemic. Research reports that the learning gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier peers has increased considerably. The pandemic has also led to higher levels of anxiety amongst the children and families we support.
Children and families require even more support to meet their basic needs and maintain their education. School-Home Support Practitioners are providing holistic support to help families overcome barriers to education such as poverty, domestic violence and mental ill-health. They also offer practical help by providing essential items for families in times of desperate need.
- £30 could help us provide a doorstop visit to a vulnerable family struggling to keep their child in school.
- £65 could help support an emergency food shop for a family of five, ensuring the whole family is fed and preventing children from losing focus in class due to dizziness and hunger pains.
- £90 could help to provide a mattress for a vulnerable child to allow them a good night’s rest so that they may concentrate better in school.
This year, we need to raise £25,000 to support vulnerable children and families who need us more than ever before.
Issues such as poor housing, reliance on food banks and poor mental health have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and the attainment gap is larger than ever, preventing disadvantaged families from breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
No matter how big or small, your support through the Big Give Christmas Challenge will have double the impact.