Firstly, I hope that you and those close to you are safe and well.  As the Chairman of the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, I wanted to let you know that we will be doing everything we can to help local sick children while in the middle of this Covid-19 pandemic.

My heart goes out to so many whose lives have been turned upside down during this pandemic, not least, so many who use our services and who are looking after a very sick child over this difficult period.  Our aim is to help families who need to spend time in the UK with a sick child receiving hospital treatment. Our entire mission is to support families at times when they need it most. Right now is clearly one of those times.

This year could not have turned out more different to the one we planned at our Ball in November 2019. We set ourselves some stretching objectives including £100,000 fundraising target and an aspiration to support 75 families for 2020 and Covid-19 has made it almost impossible to achieve. That said, I feel proud to report that we have raised £56227 fundraising and supported 38 families and deployed £49,139.

Back in March we decided to change focus given the impact Covid-19 was having on the world. Instead of focusing our efforts on raising £100,000 in 2020 we dedicated our time and energy into supporting families with sick children here in Jersey. It’s worrying enough to have a sick child that is vulnerable due to this terrible virus and sadly some families will have the added stress of not earning over this period. We believed there will be certain scenarios where sick children can’t travel due to the flight disruptions caused by Covid-19 virus and the charity could potentially help with medical equipment. Standard chartered Bank kindly donated £15,000 to the charity to support our Covid-19 initiative of which we have deployed £7,990 YTD.

During the COVID-19 period we have taken the opportunity to reflect on and review what we do, how we do it, and to identify areas where we could further develop and improve as a charity. Our review concluded that we needed to evolve the charity into a legal entity. The new company Grace Crocker Family Support Limited (“the Company”) Registered No: 130956 was incorporated on the 14 February 2020. We have also set up a new operational management structure to manage the future development of the charity.

We continue to work very closely with Family First. Family First are a professional service providing practical support and help in locating resources, services and funding provided by government and voluntary organisations.

I would also like to thank our small and dynamic team of volunteers who worked so hard to keep driving the charity forward, all because they care so much about the charity’s existence and what it means for people in Jersey affected by the stress and challenges of looking after a sick child. I am so humbled by their commitment.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who raised money for us in 2020. We are so grateful to have such amazing supporters who work alongside us to provide the vital funds needed to support local families. Together, we make a huge impact on our little community. We look forward to working alongside you all again in 2021 and welcoming new fundraisers to our Grace Crocker family’.

Finally, we will be announcing early 2021 some of our initiatives to support the families that need our help going forward and would be delighted if you could support us.

Allan Wood – Chairman