You can now find condensed copies of our Supporter News here on our blog- these will give you the highlights from our latest issue, such as successful fundraisers and future workshop dates! To sign up to our mailing list and receive the full version of our newsletters, please get in touch with admin@brigittetrust.com.
From our Charity Manager
Oh my goodness, where has 2024 gone to?
We’ve had a busy year- we’ve continued to take in new referrals and provide our core service of home visiting. In addition, we ran 7 Bereavement Support groups across Surrey, 2 Neurological Support groups, 3 volunteer training courses, 7 Death Cafés, 8 workshops covering various topics, 66 volunteer support groups, and one 6-week Coffin Club! We were also at numerous events from Pride in Surrey and Teas on the Green to Banstead Village Fair. We have given lots of talks to church groups, Rotary Clubs, and health and social care teams in the area.
We launched both our Wellbeing at Home service and our End-of-Life Planning service, both of which are going well!
We sadly had to move out of our office at Abinger House, where Stonegate Homes had kindly hosted us for the last 20 months. We hope to share with them again in the future.
We have done incredibly well with our fundraising efforts this year- our Fundraising Lead Tanya has been outstanding in building and developing relationships, one of particular note has been with Bucher Municipal (more about this can be found below). We have also continued to grow across multiple social media platforms, and have improved our website. We’ve been working alongside HelpFilm and hope to showcase our new advert shortly, and have created a new Fundraising Pack for those of you interested in fundraising for us.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Lucy Beach, Charity Manager
A warm welcome to our new Patron
We are so excited to announce that Baroness Caroline Sweerts is joining our Charity as a new Patron.
In April of this year, we had the pleasure of attending Dunsborough Park Tulip Festival, serving hot drinks and plating up delicious cakes provided by our fabulous volunteers to raise funds. We thoroughly enjoyed the day, were blessed with sunshine and provided coffee and sweet treats to around 200 people visiting this beautiful event.
The owner, Baroness Caroline Sweerts, was very happy with our effort and was keen to know more about our Charity, so our Chair of Trustees Jan Way went to visit her. On talking about the Charity and the services we provide across Surrey, she was impressed enough to agree to join us and become our new Patron.
We look forward to the time ahead working with you and hope to visit your beautiful grounds again in 2025!
Quality Street Fair- Merstham, 8th September
The sun was shining for us all day in the lovely grounds of Quality Street, Merstham in September. We had a table with our fabulous hamper, which helped raise over £200 in raffle ticket sales.
Thank you to our volunteer Brian, who helped Tanya on the stand by selling raffle tickets and handing out our leaflets creating awareness of our services.
Reigate & Banstead Borough Volunteer Awards
A HUGE congratulations to another of our volunteers, Deborah Mead, who received recognition from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council for volunteering! Deborah said it was like “going to the Oscars,” and was astonished to have been nominated and picked for the award.
Well done Deborah!
Embers Bowls Club- £1067.86 raised!
A BIG thank you to Embers Bowls Club for raising over £1060 for us as their chosen Charity of the Year 2024! Our very own IT Support Chris Axton played a huge part in raising the monies, along with Lady Captain Rosemary Burges and Pat Cooke who was very much involved in organising the Bowls cricket game and the tea afterwards.
Thank You to Bucher Municipal
On 5th September, two of our staff members were invited to an event with Bucher Municipal UK, as their Dorking site celebrated it’s centenary year!
The evening was an opportunity to raise money for 3 local charities based in Dorking, one of those chosen being us at The Brigitte Trust!
Tanya said “The event was great fun, and we were made to feel very welcome. This has allowed us to create awareness of our services in the County to a supportive audience.” There was a raffle, followed by the auction of a road sweeper with the logos of the charities displayed on the sides. The final amount from the auction has been divided between the 3 charities, and we’d like to say a BIG thank you to Bucher for such a wonderful opportunity.
Planning for your Future with Age UK
Join us on 28th January 2025 for an online workshop with Age UK Surrey, discussing their new project “Planning for your Future.” The session will cover a range of issues, from staying physically and mentally healthy to the costs of varying care options in Surrey.
This workshop is free and open to all. To book, please visit our Event page or email our Volunteer Manager Mandy at mandy.east@brigittetrust.com.
With Warmest Wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all our Volunteers, Clients, Supporters and Friends of the Trust from the Trustees and the Team at The Brigitte Trust.
Want to fundraise for The Brigitte Trust?
You can get started today by creating your fundraising page online with Enthuse. Your support means that we can reach out and help more people living with a life-limiting illness in Surrey.