A fundraising ball is being held in March to celebrate our 10th birthday and raise vital funds to continue our work changing the lives of children and young people with additional needs or disabilities, and their families. We have worked with over 850 families through the last decade!
What started out as a support group in a church hall in Thornbury is now a thriving charity with 450 families from the wider region currently signed up as members, benefitting from friendship, support, and compassion, along with innovative and fun services that empower everyone to join in.
Our founder Tor Goodman reflects that “JIGSAW Thornbury, as it is today, goes way beyond what I first hoped it would be and that is due to the dedication and hard work of the JIGSAW team. Thank you to all who have been involved in making JIGSAW Thornbury possible from it’s start to now, as it celebrates this special occasion.”
Since April 2022, we have seen 122 families join JIGSAW Thornbury as members. This is a 33% increase in member numbers, which clearly shows the growing need for our work. We have introduced 15 new or improved services to best meet the needs of the families we work with, post Covid restrictions and moving into our new home in the heart of Thornbury. New groups for home educating families and sensory play-based sessions for preschool children, to support all areas of their growth and development, have proved so popular there are currently waiting lists for places. In addition, our 6 core services have continued as normal, with weekly term-time parent carer support and wellbeing groups and a youth club for young people aged 14-25 years.
“Our member families say that JIGSAW is a complete lifeline both to them as parents and their children who are dealing with exceptional challenges. We are only able to run our services with grant funding or support from the local community, which makes our fundraising ball such an important event for all the families we work with,” says Hattie Clayton, Interim CEO of JIGSAW Thornbury.
The evening on Friday 3rd March at The Grange Hotel, Bristol promises to be a night to remember with a 3-course meal, live music from popular local band ‘Ride The Edge’ and a fundraising auction and raffle. There will be entertainment and fun throughout the night, with lots of opportunities to find out more about the vital impact of our unique charity.
Annie Holland, Interim Chair of Trustees says, “We would like to extend an invite to all our members and the local community to join us for an evening of celebrating our impact over the last decade and fundraising to support the future of our life changing work with children and young people with additional needs or disabilities, and their families.”
Tickets for our 10th birthday fundraising ball are now closed but you can be part of the charity’s unique impact by supporting the ball in other ways. We’re looking for donations of prizes for our auction and raffle to make the ball a truly special evening and raise vital funds for our work. Prizes could be items, a service, an experience day, a hotel stay, or anything else you might be able to give, or sponsor. All donations and sponsorship will be credited in the charity’s publicity. If you think you can help, please contact fundraising@jigsawthornbury.org.uk