Appeal Update

As we begin a new financial year (it starts in April) we know that our emergency appeal in which we hoped to raised £30,000 in 150 days has come to and end.

We are totalling up the donations that have been received during the 150 days and are extremely grateful to all who have donated, purchased some of our products or participated in fundraising activities.

Despite all the wonderful efforts we know that we have not met our target, but we knew it was going to be a big effort and unfortunately we have had various staff off sick and other challenges that have impacted on our ability to fundraise.

There is a saying that “it takes a village to raise a child”; it also takes a community to fund and maintain a charity.

The trustees are conscious that we have a lovely, caring community but we are also relatively small and although are work is essential we are relatively niche. Working with adults with learning disabilities is a privilege, we are blessed by the times we laugh, dance, eat and sometimes cry together. The work is costly, we often require one staff member working with just one or two of our Makers to ensure the holistic support and community we provide meets the necessary regulations and standards we strive for.

The appeal has seen the implementation of Life Savers (Individual Givers) and Life Supporters (Regular Givers), a growth in Membership and the launch of Ambassadors. We hope that these will continue to grow – especially as we would love to have a Life Project Ambassador in each local church telling our story and sharing how people can get involved and know something of the blessings we experience through the Life Project community.

As a team the trustees, staff and volunteers are committed to the Life Project and to all those we service. We might not have hit our ambitious target but we have learned some lessons and will look further into the options we have available to us.

We have already had to announce our Day Services fees will be increasing substantially to meet some of the shortfall that cannot be met with grants or fundraising this year. This will mean many of our service users having their funding reviewed and decisions made by health and social care required as to whether they will pay for the service we provide.

The funding for our Family Support is currently secure through to the end of July and we are seeking new grants to ensure that we can maintain and develop this provision. This is not an area of our work which we can change fees so there is little we can do other than look for grants, fund raise or look at partnerships as we have already reduced costs considerably.