CCS Fact File

The title of today's post, as well as much of its content, is unashamedly stolen from CCS's most recent Annual Review.  It's a really interesting document full of information about what all their projects achieved in 2012/13.  There's a link to it at the bottom of the "Our Mission and Values" page of the CCS website (www.cathchild.org.uk); I recommend having a look, especially as it's not too long! 

For those of you who don't make it there, or to tempt you to visit, here is a little distillation of some of the facts and figures I found most interesting.  They all refer to the 2012/13 operating year. 

400 children, parents and carers used the "Stay & Play" facility in North Kensington, benefitting from specialist equipment and opportunities to socialise. 

This project also provided families with Christmas food hampers and appropriate gifts for their children, transforming the festive season from a trial to a treat. 

The School Counselling service enabled 767 children, young people and parents to access psychotherapy or play therapy. 

St Francis Family Centre in Poplar provided 140 people with advice or an emergency voucher from the "Crisis Fund". 

Over 400 people benefitted from the services of this project over the year. 

So what could your donation do? 

£20 will buy specialist toys for a child with learning disabilities. 

£50 will fund a play therapy session for a young child struggling with mental health issues. 

£100 will buy a set of educational toys for the St Francis Family Centre toy library, so that children from deprived backgrounds can borrow them to play with at home. 

And what about the value of the £2000 I'm raising for CCS? 

£500 will fund a bereavement workshop for 30 parents struggling to support their child following the death of a loved one. 

£1,000 will enable a child who has experienced domestic violence to receive counselling sessions for a year, preventing the associated mental health problems from persisting into adult life. 

Each tiny action really does help to bring nearer the day when no child has to suffer because of a poor start in life.  Could you help this week by telling a friend about my project?