A two-year review

Happy New Year Sunshine News readers,

The New Year is always a time of optimism for the year ahead and of reflection of the year gone by.

As we look ahead to the new year, we always like to take time to reflect on the achievements and challenges we faced the year before and we wanted to take this opportunity to give you all a little round up of the past 24 months here at Sunshine Fund HQ.

We know these past two years have been extremely difficult for everyone, so we wanted to share some of the happy things that 2020 and 2021 have brought us with you, our loyal Sunshine news readers!

We were all so sad to see our Rebecca say goodbye to Team Sunshine after an amazing eight years with the charity, however we are thrilled to say that she is loving her new life in Ireland.

She also continues to help us in any way she can and is still fundraising to support our work, even encouraging her new team to take part in Christmas Jumper day in December.

This charity gets into your blood and we know our Rebecca will always be our biggest cheerleader.

Whilst we said goodbye to one team member, we said a very warm welcome to four new members of Team Sunshine.

We welcomed Debbie, Ashleigh, Bev and Erin to the team in 2020 and 2021 and we couldn't be happier to have them on board.

Each one brings their own unique skills and experience to the charity and it honestly feels like they’ve always been here!

We also introduced a very tiny member to the team, as our Rachel welcomed her gorgeous baby girl into the world!

More happy news came from our Trust Fundraiser, Ashleigh, who announced her engagement at Christmas! Congratulations!

We are so proud of our team for everything we have achieved together over these past two years, in often very difficult circumstances.

Whilst fundraising events were cancelled due to the pandemic, and donations were affected in ways we could never have dreamed of, Team Sunshine never missed a deadline for equipment provision, meaning that when a family needed us, we were there for them.

In fact, we have provided over £231,000 of equipment to local children, and young adults in a time when schools, respite care and support services were cancelled or closed. We are pretty proud of that!

We have continued to support more than 360 families throughout the pandemic, whether they needed equipment, emotional support or they just needed someone to talk to; Team Sunshine has been there for them every step of the way.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the kindness and generosity of our supporters, donors and Sunshine News readers. So from all of us here at Team Sunshine...THANK YOU!

If you follow our social media accounts, you will know that some of our children received an extra special delivery just in time for Christmas!

A combination of external factors caused by both the pandemic and Brexit meant that some items which our charity had funded earlier in 2021 for children requiring mobility aids and trikes, were delayed.

So it really was a Christmas miracle when Santa (and Team Sunshine) managed to pull this one out of the bag and make some very magical (and large!) deliveries just in time for the big day.

We caught up with Indie and his parents as he received delivery of his awesome new trike.

Indie's Mum, Sarah, said: "Thank you so much to The Chronicle Sunshine Fund for funding Indie’s trike.

"This trike will help Indiana develop the strength in his legs to keep his mobility as strong as possible.

"Indie has always wanted to be able to race his school mates but couldn’t push the pedals on a standard bike. Now he can race the rest of them!"

We cant wait to hear more about Indie’s adventures with his new wheels!

For more information, or to get involved in future fundraising projects, visit our website.

Happy New Year Everyone Siobhan x