Donate
If you can't attend on the night, please consider donating towards our work. Just under 99 pence in every pound donated goes directly to support our work with particularly disadvantaged young people, so you can be sure that your gift will make a transformational difference to vulnerable children.
Here's how your donations could make a real difference to our children...
- £10 would pay for a child to have an afternoon trip out and a heart to heart with their mentor after a tricky week at school.
- £25 would buy fresh ingredients for 12 kids to cook up a storm in their therapeutic cooking session.
- £50 would allow 6 children and their helpers to visit the farm and meet the animals whilst on holiday this summer.
- £100 covers the overhead costs for us to run a training day to train 20 volunteers to be there for our children.
- £500 would cover the full cost of a child's week away on a Thrive Outside residential.
Click the button below to donate securely through our Enthuse page.
Your support helps children like Jenny...
Jenny* had a traumatic early childhood, which included significant neglect and suspected sexual abuse by a relative. Her father died last year and, since then her mother has struggled with her mental health, relying on Jenny’s older sister to parent the children, with the whole family moving into her two-bedroom flat. Relationships at home are very volatile and Jenny misses her father very much. She is struggling with anxiety, and school report that she has worryingly low self-esteem.
Jenny was nervous to attend our projects and it took a long time to coax her into our minibus and help her overcome her worries about being away from her mum, but from the moment she arrived and saw our bouncy castle, she was smiling - she tried every activity and blossomed over the course of the week. She was especially proud that she led her group on a night walk through the woods.
Over the week, she particularly enjoyed trying camping and horse riding for the first time, but just as importantly, she also built strong relationships with our volunteers, talking at length about the challenges she faces at home. She felt comfortable and listened to and this enabled her to take a break from her responsibilities and relax. Since the project, we matched Jenny with one of her Group Leaders as a mentor for long term support. They now rock climb together each fortnight and Jenny has someone to talk to about her difficulties at home.
*Name and some identifying details changed to protect childrens' confidentiality.
Our Impact
94% Improvement in Self-Esteem
94% of children attending a Free to Be project in 2023 reported positive indicators of improved self-esteem, social confidence and resilience, including feeling believed in, trusted, adventurous and special.
94% Improvement in Social Confidence
94% of children reported trying something they'd previously not thought possible whilst with us. Project workers reported that 99% of children showed improvement in terms of their self-belief and social confidence, with 64% of children showing very significant improvement.
100% Positive Feedback from Referrers
100% of referrers providing feedback reported positive change in the child's emotional wellbeing and/or behaviour after our projects, including increased aspirations, having better interactions with others, managing better when things go wrong, and having a stronger belief in who they are and what they can achieve.
"I was quite shy and scared when I first came to Free to Be and worried that something might happen. But over time I got used to it and now, I love Free to Be. I’ve been coming to projects since I was 8. I just love it. We can do so much activities and we meet each other and build good relationships. I’ve learnt to be proud of myself and that I can overcome my fears. It’s always pushing me to try things."
- Dylan, age 11