Smashing the Big Give Summer Challenge 2020!
News article from July 13, 2020
We are ecstatic to share that we exceeded our target for our first ever SHS Big Give Summer Challenge! Our match pot was used to match and double the impact of donations from our wonderful supporters – together, we raised additional funds to further support vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families during this pandemic. We’d like to thank all of our wonderful supporters for their commitment to ensuring vulnerable children and their parents are protected and accessing educational opportunities during this uncertain and difficult time.
When we entered lockdown in March, The Childhood Trust revealed the pandemic could leave over 100,000 already vulnerable children without key support including access to healthy meals and mental health care. Donations made during our Big Give Summer Challenge 2020 will go toward providing practical support to disadvantaged children and families to ensure they are safe, fed and accessing their education. With this practical support such as a device and data, emotional and practical support from a Practitioner or food for the week, children can engage with their remote learning and achieve at home during this national crisis.
Demand for SHS services has quadrupled. Our staff are recognised as key workers and are on the front line every day to support the wellbeing of the most vulnerable families we work with. This includes responding to safety concerns, delivering food parcels to families who are at risk of facing hunger and enabling vulnerable children to engage with education from home. In the north, Gareth who works in Blackpool has taken on a bigger caseload of families and he has been working hard and dropping off food parcels at doorsteps to prevent food poverty. In East London, Jaime supports children who attend an alternative provision school; she has been delivering printed educational resources, arranging socially distanced walks and phoning families for wellbeing support.
- Safeguarding referrals to SHS have increased sevenfold since school closures – 40% of these referrals are linked to domestic violence.
- SHS Practitioners are now supporting four times as many families since schools closed. One practitioner’s caseload of 16 high need families increased with an additional 64 families requiring regular welfare checks.
- To date, SHS has already identified over 150 children who do not have access to computers and wifi and has launched an IT project in partnership with Raspberry Pi to make sure that the most disadvantaged children are able to continue their learning. The number being identified is rising daily.
- Over 770 toys have been delivered to families in need along with books and clothes.