One of the latest beneficiaries to a grant from our Community Fund is Families In Focus, a parent-led charity that supports families with a child under 25 with special educational needs or disability.
Operating in both Southend and Chelmsford, we visited one of their social activity groups at Melbourne Sports Stadium to see them in action and to witness the support they provide. Families played together, parents swapped stories and advice, children mixed with others their own age and were not made to feel different. There was a friendly atmosphere with a community feel, and it was busy.
One parent said; “Families In Focus have provided the most on point and appropriate support that we have received. It is the first assistance that we have been offered that has completely fulfilled what it said it would and I honestly can’t thank them enough.”
Pauline Dodd, Chair of our Membership Committee which allocates where our Community Fund money is distributed, said; “It’s been really quite moving to see how much this small charity has achieved over the last 25 years or so, and how relied upon they are. What a great organisation.”
Families In Focus received £1,500 from the Community Fund grant which was combined with other donations by the Essex Community Foundation and used to cover rental costs and other essential expenses. For more information on our Community Fund visit here.