Take on a challenge to help us raise £10k for our 10th birthday year!
Our charity works with children and young people with additional needs or disabilities, and their families, and is celebrating 10 years of having a life changing impact in Thornbury and surrounding areas. We have worked with over 850 families over the last decade and have grown to now offer 17 different services. But we need your help to continue to grow the support we provide to empower families to connect, fit in and thrive.
We have set a £10,000 community fundraising target to achieve together with our valued supporters, both existing and new, by end of March 2023. This will go towards providing support groups, holiday activities, a youth club for young people aged 14-25 with any additional need, opportunities for young people to volunteer, woodland sessions, parent wellbeing events, training and awareness workshops, and our SENsory Lending Library with 500 items for families to borrow.
JIGSAW Thornbury is at a pivotal moment, having grown rapidly due to increased need. The charity saw 165 families join JIGSAW Thornbury as members between April 2022 and March 2023. This was a 45% increase in member numbers, reflecting the increasing demand for the charity’s services. Alongside this, we are experiencing increasing costs and need your help to reach our fundraising target so that we can continue to meet the need within our community.
Fundraising is a fun way to join in with JIGSAW Thornbury and play a part in raising vital funds.
A brave team of local people have helped us make a brilliant start to our fundraising target by raising almost £5,000 through their national 3 peaks #JIGSAW10For10 fundraising challenge! Hattie, Steve, Sandra, Russ, and George the dog walked up and down the 3 highest peaks in England, Scotland, and Wales – Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis, and Snowdon – in just 24 hours. This includes 23 miles of walking, 3,064 metres total ascent, 50,333 steps, and is the equivalent of walking up and down the stairs in your house around 1,135 times. Only around 40% of people that attempt the challenge succeed in completing it within the 24 hour time frame!
Our #JIGSAW10For10 3 peaks challenge team set off on Friday 19th May, making their way up to Fort William in Scotland. They stayed overnight before starting to clock as they stepped onto Ben Nevis at 7:30am on Saturday morning. From here it was a drive down to the Lake District to climb Scafell Pike and then on to Wales to finish the challenge with Snowdon.
Steve is our Chair of Trustees for JIGSAW Thornbury and wanted to lead from the front on fundraising by taking part in our 3 Peaks Challenge. ‘‘It is a challenge that I have always wanted to do, so this is a perfect opportunity to raise money for an extremely worthwhile cause.’’
Hattie, Russ and George were first to complete the challenge, just 10 minutes inside the 24 hour time limit! Very fitting timing for their JIGSAW10For10 fundraising challenge! They spent a total of 12 hours and 46 minutes walking, completing Ben Nevis in 5 hours and 10 minutes, Scafell Pike in a speedy 3 hours and 36 minutes with a rock climbing shortcut, and Snowdon in 3 hours and 48 minutes.
‘‘I like a challenge and this has the added bonus of raising money and awareness for a worthwhile local charity’’ says Russ, who runs Elite Fitness in Thornbury. The gym were first to sponsor the team’s fundraising page. ‘‘It is important that Elite does what we can to help others, recognise our place in the community, and encourage and facilitate access to local services for everyone.’’
Russ brought along George the dog, whose energy on walks and calm, friendly nature were important to the success of the team.
Hattie was just 3 weeks into her full time CEO role at JIGSAW when the challenge took place, so thought that climbing 3 mountains to raise money to support the charity would be the perfect way to celebrate.
‘‘We’ve been blown away by the generous support from over 100 people who have donated to our fundraising page. This much needed funding will have a life changing impact for children and young people with additional needs or disabilities, and their families.’’
The team wouldn’t have got round without the excellent planning and navigation skills of volunteer drivers, Andrew, a Project Management volunteer at JIGSAW, and his wife Jacky. It was an extra special weekend for the driver duo.
‘’It was a joy to be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary together as part of the team celebrating JIGSAW Thornbury’s 10th birthday. JIGSAW is a fantastic charity providing vital support. We need to do as much as we can to raise awareness in the local community of our life changing services and impact.’’
Andrew and Jacky drove a total of 1200 miles over the weekend, which is almost the same as driving from Thornbury to Rome!
Everyone was pleased to return to Thornbury on Sunday afternoon, thanking everyone who kept their motivation up with donations and supporting messages throughout the challenge.
You can join in celebrating 10 years of JIGSAW and help to keep our life changing impact going by taking on your own #JIGSAW10For10 challenge. Mountains are optional! June is the month of community. A campaign that celebrates many people in our society who might otherwise be overlooked, so what better time to get stuck in making a difference for people where you live?
‘’I’ve seen JIGSAW grow within our community over the last 10 years, so know we can have a big impact by completing this fundraising challenge’’ said Sandra, who joined the challenge team because she wanted to contribute to raising money for an important cause.
What could you do to join in with our 10 for 10 birthday challenge? Go to our Fundraise with us page for some inspiration and information on how we can support you in your fundraising challenge.
Fundraise for us