Merry Christmas to all our supporters!
Thanks to your support, we have an incredible year of life-changing work to celebrate!
Throughout the year, we have continued to deliver our 18 different services that empower children and young people aged 0-25, and their families, to connect, fit in, and thrive. From our pre-school sensory playgroup to our ever-growing Youth Empowerment Services, parent and carer wellbeing and awareness events and inclusive events for the whole family – none of this is possible without the people, groups, and funders who support our charity. Our most recent services impact report covers the 10 summer holiday activities we offered in July and August 2024 engaging with 103 children and young people over 15 different sessions. You can read more in the report approved by our trustees at a recent meeting in November.
JIGSAW Thornbury service impact report July – August 2024
The first good news of 2024 was our heating system being repaired following our successful ‘gift of warmth’ campaign. Thank you to everyone who supported this. We are enjoying a much warmer, cosier winter this year! Our winter campaign for 2025 follows a similar theme, raising vital funds to help us keep our safe space where young people with additional needs can be themselves without judgement. The rent for our home in the heart of Thornbury costs £1,800 per month and every donation towards this has an impact for the young people we support.
‘‘JIGSAW is awesome. Everyone is friendly. It’s when I can actually see people and see friends and feel included in my community.’’
Empowering Young People
This year, we wanted to empower more young members. This was kickstarted in April by doubling our youth club provision and joining the South Gloucestershire Youth Work Partnership, thanks to a 5-year funding commitment from Thornbury Town Council. We have since secured further National Lottery funding with the partnership to coordinate our youth volunteering programme! Our Youth Empowerment Sessions have gone from strength to strength with a new partnership with the South Gloucestershire Council Youth Participation Team. This is opening up more opportunities for young people with additional needs or disabilities to have a say in matters that impact them.
We have listened to, collaborated with, and supported more young people to volunteer. Our young members have stepped up to volunteer a huge 269 hours for JIGSAW Thornbury in the last 9 months! They have run community cafes, led on and helped with fundraising events, and even bravely shared some of their personal experiences at our JIGSAW June supporter event. Two of our young people have attended local award ceremonies in recognition of their volunteering and fundraising contributions to JIGSAW.
Supporting Young People’s Mental Health
Our new Project 5 journal, launched in September 2024, is a tool full of useful information and activities that support with managing big emotions, stress, and anxiety. We have a range of additional modules covering topics such as unhelpful thoughts, confidence and strength, getting better sleep, and navigating new connections. You can read more about the journal and our monthly Project 5 Growing Empowerment Together sessions in our blog below. Sessions have also taken place in local schools throughout the year, and these are available to book at any time.
Launching our new Project 5 Journal | JIGSAW Thornbury
Fundraising News
2024 has been a year of fundraising firsts. January started with our Jolly JIGSAW Get Together campaign supported by Tesoro Lounge and our local Co-op store. We wrapped up our 10th birthday celebrations with our JIGSAW Jaunt sponsored walk in March, marshalled by members of Elite Fitness Gym. The community came together to enjoy our first ever dog show in May, inspired by our very own therapy dog, Albus, and with thanks to R H Agri for funding the fabulous rosettes. In August, Elite Fitness Gym got a brave team of local people together to take on the infamous Tough Mudder course and gain sponsorship to support our charity. They are already recruiting a team for 16th August 2025!
We are excited to announce that all of these events are planned to take place again in 2025 with the addition of a golf fundraising day at Thornbury Golf Club. These events are a vital part of raising enough funds to deliver all our services, which now cost over £220,000. We would love to see some of our most valued supporters joining in with the fun at our fundraising events in 2025. Please get in touch if you are interested in sponsorship or match funding for any of our events, helping us have an even greater impact next year.
Wrapping up 2024
We are ending the year on a high with 2 nominations for the Thornbury Mayor’s Awards! Please vote for JIGSAW Thornbury in the Community Hero (Group or Organisation category) to help us reach the final. You will also find nominations for Hattie Clayton, our CEO, and 2 small businesses that have supported our charity: Elite Fitness Gym and Raybeam Makes. You can vote once in each category with voting open until 2nd January 2025.
Mayor’s Awards | Thornbury Town Council
Our nomination was written by some of the young people who join in with JIGSAW regularly.
‘‘JIGSAW has meant a lot to me growing up as it is a place I can go to without feeling judged and misunderstood. Also, being a young volunteer has pushed me to do things I would never have been able to do without JIGSAW being there supporting me all the way. The opportunities they have given me are very special as being a neurodivergent young person in this society is very challenging but with JIGSAW I can be myself and prove everyone wrong. JIGSAW changed my life for the better.’’
Our team are taking a well-earned break over the holidays and JIGSAW will be closed from Friday 20th December until Monday 6th January.
We look forward to working with you again in the New Year.
Wishing you and your family a restful break,