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At this time of year, our families are very much at the forefront of our minds. But for some, that means it can be a painful time, and one in which they need help and support.
At the end of every year, Express speaks to local charities about what their Christmas wishes are for the year ahead.
Today, we are speaking to Brighter Futures, a Jersey-based charity working to support families in Jersey. Since its foundation in 2008, the charity has supported more than 2,800 families, benefitting over 11,200 Islanders through family support, improving mental health and second chance learning skills, as well as providing a creche facility whilst the groups take place.
During 2021 and 2022, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the charity had to start a waiting list for its services as the number of families referred rose beyond its capacity.
Brighter Futures currently supports more than 150 families at any one time. It costs £4,400 per year to support one family, and to continue to provide this level of support and employ more key workers, the charity needed to raise almost £1m in 2022. The charity does not charge for its services to ensure that the help it provides is as accessible as possible.
"This year, we were proud to successfully complete our ‘22 Families’ campaign, which raised an additional £96,400 for our charity, based on the additional need identified to support 22 more families this year, at a cost of £4,400 per annum, per family. This was achieved in November 2022 and we’re grateful to everyone who helped us to reach this goal.
This was in addition to the successful fundraising events that we are becoming known for, such as White-Collar Darts and the applications for funding that we make to charitable trusts for grants. A lot of work goes into these, to ensure that Brighter Futures can access the funds that it requires to remain operational.
We established a wonderful gardening project during the Spring term of 2022 for many of our families to enjoy, including planting and growing seeds, as well as picnics and outdoor play at RJAHS.
Pictured: "There is a constant tension between wanting to help every family as soon as they need us, with the reality of supporting as many families as we can at one time."
We also started a Summer breakfast club to enable our Brighter Futures families to have a good start to the day, with breakfast and play available every weekday throughout the summer holidays. This was in response to referrals and feedback received from schools about the importance for families to eat well during term time and holiday time. It was a social occasion for both parents and children, with the opportunity to combine healthy eating with family fun in a safe and secure environment and was a popular daily event for our families.
We were also able to speak to a group of States Members in October about the essential role of Brighter Futures in Jersey, and why we feel we should qualify for a greater amount of government funding than the current level of 8% of our total income."
"Our two major challenges revolve around funding and space to do the work that we know is so needed in Jersey, which is to support families who need us.
There is a constant tension between wanting to help every family as soon as they need us, with the reality of supporting as many families as we can at one time. This is due to the limitations on our fantastic keyworkers such as the limited amount of space we have at The Bridge and the challenges of raising 92% of our funding to operate our service for families in Jersey."
"We’re really looking forward to 2023 – it will be our 15th year in operation, so it’s our 'Crystal' anniversary!
Our biggest wish for 2023 is for our Brighter Futures families is to enjoy their journeys with us by accessing the support that they need at the time that they need it.
The Bridge centre is vital for our service, as nearly 60% of our clientele live within a short distance from our base here. However, we would love to find additional premises in Jersey to expand our offering of courses and programmes across our island, as The Bridge may be hard to access if you don’t live nearby or have transport.
We hope to run our gardening programme again during 2023, and would be delighted if this were a project that a funder may be interested in exploring further with us, to give our families the chance to grow their own produce which they can take home to feed the family, whilst enjoying and exploring the great outdoors. If you would like to help us to offer this experience to families, please feel free to contact us.
We wish for continual and sustained funding from government to ensure the longevity of our service for our island.
Finally, for anyone who may feel that they are able to, we invite you to consider joining our 'Crystal Campaign' of giving a monthly donation to Brighter Futures, to help support the families who need us.
We wish for EVERY parent in Jersey to have the support they need to be the best parent that they can be, to help every child in this island to have a brighter future."
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