Jessie May's 'Making Fun Possible' Programme Goes Off with a Bang Thanks to the Morrisons Foundation

Local children’s charity Jessie May is celebrating after receiving a grant of nearly £23,000 from the Morrisons Foundation.

Jessie May, which provides hospice at home care for terminally ill children in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Wiltshire, will use the £22,700 grant to fund its ‘Making Fun Possible’ programme, which aims to provide children and their families with free, fun respite days.

The special activity days will allow families to interact with others and enjoy carefree experiences together while the child’s medical needs are taken care of by a team of specialists.

Included in the programme will be family fun days, group activity days across the area in which the charity operates and teenage experience days aimed at older children on the Jessie May caseload.

The cheque was presented to Jessie May by the Morrisons Foundation at a special ceremony in the Fishponds Morrisons store to coincide with Bonfire Night – a befitting start to get the programme off with a bang.

Julian Withers, head of fundraising at Jessie May, said: “Being able to take part in fun activities as a family is hugely important and valuable as a coping strategy for the families we care for. Public outings for these families are at best difficult and at worst impossible.

“Many children need to keep emergency equipment with them, such as oxygen tanks or suction tubes, and just getting out the door can be a major physical challenge. Many parents tell us that they feel anxious of how they will cope in the event that their child needs medical attention or that they feel uncomfortable with having other people staring at their child, however sympathetically.

“Our respite activity days and family fun days, are experiences that others take for granted, and allow children and their families to interact with others, feel less isolated and have fun, whilst our nurses care for their medical needs.

“The events give the children in our care the opportunity to break from the monotony of the daily care routine, to have independence from their normal carer and to meet other children.

“Due to advances in technology and support from services like Jessie May, terminally ill children are living much longer. For the past five years we have seen a gradual shift in the demographics of the children we care for, with a larger number defying the odds to live beyond their late teens. Because of their disabilities, these children face prolonged periods of time at home and miss out on many of the things their peers enjoy as they grow up.”

The grant comes after an application was made by the Jessie May fundraising team to the Morrisons Foundation, which offers grants to charities making a difference to people’s lives.

Last year the Morrisons Foundation awarded Jessie May with £17,691 to kick off the first ever ‘Making Fun Possible’ scheme, resulting in seven events held over the year.

Julian continued: “We are keen to build on the success of the 2016 Making Fun Possible programme and provide an enhanced schedule of social activities for the children and adolescents on our caseload.

“We are now caring for more teenagers and work across a larger geographic area so grants like this are absolutely vital to ensuring we continue to provide the best support possible. In 2018/19 we will run 12 Making Fun Possible events which is fantastic.”

Jessie May currently supports 129 terminally ill children in the South West providing specialist palliative nursing care within the familiar and nurturing surroundings of their own homes. Jessie May is the only charity to provide this free service to terminally ill children in the area and is widely regarded as one of the leading expert providers in this field.

For more information about Jessie May visit www.jessiemay.org.uk