Provide Community has proudly donated £5000 to Families InFocus (FIF), a Chelmsford-based charity providing holistic support to families of children (aged 0-25 years) with disabilities and special needs across Essex.
FIF was established 25 years ago by a group of parents of children with special needs, who were committed to offering free, caring, practical and confidential support to families in a similar position. The charity has experienced significant demand since the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, the cost-of-living crisis.
Kirsty Cornell, Chief Executive Officer for FIF, explained: “It’s been the busiest year we’ve ever had. We’ve supported over 2000 families, which is 200 more than we usually work with. Covid-19 has had a huge impact on children not being able to access the therapy and support they’ve needed, and we’ve seen a noticeable increase in anxiety at school.”
Provide is an employee-owned company, giving our members the opportunity to nominate local causes they feel deserve a donation as part of our commitment as a CIC to reinvest our profits to benefit the communities we serve.
Kirsty continued: “We are so grateful for Provide’s donation. It will help our team of Family Support Advisers offer one-to-one support and group workshops to even more families. The demand for our help in obtaining the right disability benefits has gone through the roof as many families with a child with disabilities are being hit particularly hard by the increased cost-of-living.”
Joanna Dunne, Finance Business Partner at Provide, nominated FIF. She said: “The team at FIF is so passionate about the support they can give families. I am delighted the money we have donated is going to help them in their mission to provide such amazing support to even more parents in our community.”
Nicola Yarnall, our Chair of the Council of Governors at Provide, and Kirsty Cornell of Families InFocus, were recently interviewed on Chelmsford Community Radio 104.4FM about Provide’s donation to the charity and how both organisations are supporting our local communities. Listen to the replay of their discussion with presenter Nita Jhummu.
PICTURED: Melanie James (Operations Manager, FIF), Julie Neilson (Senior Family Support Adviser, FIF), Kirsty Cornell (Chief Executive Officer, FIF), Nicola Yarnall (Chair of the Council of Governors, Provide), Joanna Dunne (Finance Business Partner, Provide) Tracey Jarvis (Family Support Adviser, Chelmsford, FIF).
