Seeds of Hope

Hi Sunshine News Readers,

We hope you’ve had a good week and had a lovely Valentine’s Day celebrating those who you love and care for! Hasn’t half-term come around quick; it feels like we’ve just taken our Christmas trees down! It will be Easter before we know it and it’s lovely to have the lighter nights creeping in.

Speaking of lighter nights, I’ve spotted a fair few people running again of an evening and I can’t help but wonder if they’re training for this years GNR! For those of us who are waiting a little longer before dusting off the trainers and braving the cold to rack up the miles, time is running out to apply in the GNR General Ballot which closes on Monday (20th February). As our guaranteed charity places are limited, we’re encouraging everyone that is hoping to take part for Team Sunshine, apply in the general ballot first. This will give us the chance to have a bigger team with our incredible race partners, True Potential LLP, and of course raise even more money for our amazing children. You can register your interest in our guaranteed charity places by visiting our website: www.thesunshinefund.org/gnr

As a children’s charity we always love working with schools and children’s organisations and so we are very close to launching our first ever schools project once the schools return after half term. Seeds of Hope is a project that we hope local schools get involved with to help children understand about equality, diversity and inclusivity, something which we are of course, very passionate about. We believe that the more children understand about the diversity of others, including disability, and the more they are encouraged to ask questions, the more inclusive our communities of the North East will be. The project starts with simply planting a sunflower, a practical activity that will complement the current curriculum for KS1, that will grow into a whole host of learning opportunities for children of all ages. It is completely free to get involved and all participating schools will receive a Learning and Resource Pack to support them with the project, as well as the seeds needed to grow their own sunflowers and brighten up the school yard. If you are a teacher, school worker or parent and would be interested in taking part or finding out more, please contact Erin (erin.todd@thesunshinefund.org).

Whilst we all have fond memories of growing cress in an egg shell at school, wouldn’t it be wonderful to create some sunflower memories for our children now?

And finally, some of our supporters will know that we’ve recently started a TikTok account for the charity where we hope to use the platform to educate and raise awareness of our cause and even get a few laughs along the way. A recent video has hit over 70,000 views and so we’re thrilled that our tiny North East charity is starting to be seen all over the world! If you would like to follow us, our account is @sunshinefund. We’ll see you there!

Have a great half-term,

Lauren x