SUPPORTERS'
newsletter
Autumn 2023
Hello from Balloons!
What a 2023! It has been a great year for being able to continue to provide much needed support to bereaved children, young people and their families. This newsletter includes a round up of activity showcasing some of the fantastic achievements from across the year. I’d particularly like to draw you attention to a lovely 3 minute video of Finn and Liv who shared their story as part of Children in Need coverage this year – please do click on Pudsey, below, to give it a watch to hear directly from children and young people about the difference that support can make.
Thank you as always to our brilliant staff and fantastic volunteer Grief Support Workers and Trustees who bring so much to Balloons by giving of their time and skills. A special welcome goes to our four new volunteers who have just completed their training! As we move into 2024 we will be recruiting for a new Chair of Trustees. If you or someone you know might be interested, please do take a look on our website where we will be posting the advert soon, or drop me a line.
We can only do what we do through the generosity of others, if you feel able to support us financially this Christmas time we have a raffle with some great prizes to join in with, or would you consider becoming one of our wonderful regular donors? Read on or check out our fundraising page on our website to find out more.
A final thankyou to you – whatever your connection with Balloons we thank you for your ongoing interest and support. It means a lot. Have a fantastic Christmas break!
Nicky
Nicola Clarke - Balloons CEO
Office spruce up!
We have been thrilled to have some new developments to our office with a fantastic mural by local graffiti artist #garf to brighten up our stairwell as well as an overhaul of our meeting rooms by the wonderful staff at IKEA. We are using our office space more and more to see children and young people, so these changes really do make a difference
Spreading the word on Balloons
As a small charity it can be challenging to raise our profile and make sure people in the
local area know we are here to provide support. We have had some wonderful
opportunities this last term to share what we do.
As well as featuring on BBC Spotlight South West for Children in Need, we had the
privilege to be invited to meet and talk about our work with HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh when she visited Devon, attend an event on bereavement at Exeter University with the Archbishop of Canterbury and be interviewed on BBC Devon Radio.
We love sharing about what we do. If ever you would like us to come and talk at your place of work, community or religious group, please just let us know! admin@balloonscharity.co.uk
It’s been a busy and eventful 2023 here at Balloons - here are a few numbers that we thought you’d like to see!
6
activity days attended by 114 children and parents/carers
133
children and young people supported through one-to-one grief support
217
care packages sent to children and young people
2023
Balloons in numbers
100
professionals trained in bereavement support
33
volunteer Grief Support Workers have given their time to support children and young people
487
enquiry calls responded to
Volunteering in 2024: Taster session on training as a Grief Support Worker and Chair of trustees vacancy!
Grief Support: we are currently recruiting volunteers to join our Spring training course to become Grief Support Workers. Come along to an online taster session on Weds 13th December 10-11am, where you can find out more about what it's like to be a volunteer Grief Support Worker sign-up here: Taster session sign-up
Chair of trustee board: Our current chair wil be retiring from the board next year and we are starting to recruit for the position. If you or someone you know might be interested, please do take a look on our website where we will be posting the advert soon!
“It’s a privilege to be a trustee for such a wonderful and important charity”
Hannah Roberts - Trustee
Fundraising round-up
A huge thanks to those who have donated and raised funds for us these last few months. We are incredibly grateful! A few highlights include:
- Puffins Nursery who raised funds through their summer fetes!
- Stephens Scown who have chosen us as one of their Charities of the year
- Love to Make who fundraised for us at one of their sales
- Exeter Chiefs Foundation – a wonderful donation through being one of their designated charities
If you’d like to raise funds for us, we’d love to hear from you!
Up goes the tree!
Children and families we have supported have joined us to decorate our tree in Princesshay to raise awareness of Balloons!
Children and families were invited to a pottery workshop run by Pebblebed Pottery Studios in Newton Poppleford to make decorations in memory of their loved ones. They made a wonderful array of decorations to take home for themselves, and also some for the Balloons Charity Christmas tree in the Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter.
In November the staff team gathered together with some of the children and families to put the decorations on the tree. It was definitely a chilly wind but everyone kept warm with hot chocolate and doughnuts!
Prizes to be won!
Join our Christmas Raffle – we have some great prizes thanks to the generosity of local businesses:
- £250 Sainsbury’s shopping voucher (kindly donated by WSP)
- Russell Hobbs Air Fryer (kindly donated by SDS Ltd)
- Exeter Chiefs 2x seats (kindly donated by Exeter Chiefs)
- Exeter City Football 2x seats (kindly donated by Exeter City Football Club)
- Hamper (kindly donated by East Devon Crematorium)
- Cream tea for 2 (kindly donated by Otter Garden Centre)
- Artistory Make Your Own Hokusai Tote Bag (kindly donated by Hobbycraft)
If you’d like to join in you can call the office on 01392 982570 for some tickets to sell, or drop in to buy some or use the ‘Make a donation’ button on our website and in the notes box leave your name, number and email address and how many books you’d like and we’ll email you with your ticket details. £5 for a book of 5 tickets – draw taking place Tuesday 19th December!
How you can support a bereaved child this Christmas
Christmas time can be an especially difficult time for bereaved children and young people. Don’t forget if you or someone you know needs support you can contact us on support@balloonscharity.co.uk or 01392 982570. We also have a whole range of information sheets on our website, including one on Managing Grief at Christmas (click on the image to the right to view and download a copy)
When someone important in a family has
died, Christmas can feel very different and it can be hard to manage. Christmas is a very family focused holiday, and after a bereavement, this can highlight the gap in a
For many grieving families, Christmas can
without that special person can be especially
painful, although Christmas can be a
painful time even if the bereavement was a long time ago.
Families that we work with tell us that the run
and positivity for Christmas planning – the
shopping for presents, the food preparations,
the sending of cards and taking part in festivities. For families who are
struggling, it can be very hard to support children who are also grieving.
It is important to make time to acknowledge
your feelings. In order to support your children,
you also have to take care of yourself. The Christmas period usually means that normal
routines are disrupted, and this can make it
easier to forget to look after yourself.
Trying to keep to regular patterns of sleeping and eating are small things that can make a
- Try to be with family and friends who understand and will accept you however you are; who will allow you to laugh, cry and remember as you need to
- Try not to expect too much of yourself; grieving is exhausting and, especially in the early days, can leave you with little energy for much else. Christmas comes with a lot of pressure even when everything is running smoothly. Be kind to yourself and try to minimise pressure and expectations
- Accept offers of help where you can; family and friends will want to support you, and accepting offers from people to cook for you, take the children out, decorate the house etc. will help you and those around you
- Whether to celebrate - some bereaved families find that they do not wish to celebrate Christmas at all, whilst some find that simply maintaining their routine and celebrating as normal is the best tribute they can pay their loved one. Where children are involved, it’s worth acknowledging together that things are different, and sharing as far as possible how this makes the individuals in the family feel. You can then plan together for the type of Christmas that feels manageable. Remember that many children gain comfort from routine. You might decide to modify the way you celebrate Christmas and still make it meaningful to you and your child. The best way to find out what your child needs or will find most comforting is to ask them.
Oh yes we did!
We have had another fantastic term of Activity days, these have included a driving hosted by Red One Limited and Alert School of Motoring as well as a trip this last weekend to see Dick Whittington, courtesy of the ‘Pay it Forward’ scheme at Exeter Northcott Theatre
Could you become a monthly donor for Balloons in 2024?
Regular Giving is a fantastic way to support our work. Monthly donations, even if a small amount, soon add up to provide valuable and reliable income which helps us to plan our activities and be even more effective.
This can be done by setting up a direct debit from your bank, through your payroll or completing our online donation form. Click here to find out more.
Contact us today
If you would like to get in touch with us, please use the details below - we’d love to hear from you:
- Telephone - 01392 982570
- If you need support, email - support@balloonscharity.co.uk
- For general enquiries, email - admin@balloonscharity.co.uk