Hurrah, it’s Pudsey Day! Friday 19 November is the day of BBC Children In Need’s annual fundraising event, televised tonight.
The money raised by the public goes to supporting young people that need it most – changing lives across the UK, including in Coventry through Grapevine.
Last year Children In Need supported over 460,000 children and young people affected by a whole range of disadvantages such as poverty, disability, illness, distress or trauma. Also ensuring they each have access to the opportunities they deserve.
A snapshot of the impact of this work UK-wide reveals:
- 83,000 say they are more empowered
- 150,000 say they have increased essential skills
- 151,000 have stronger emotional well-being
- 179,000 have stronger self-belief.
We’re one of a number of organisations in Coventry to receive funding to help remove the barriers faced by children and young people, so they can thrive.
Click here to hear Paul from Grapevine talk about how the money is spent in Coventry (from one hour 20 minutes into the show).
We know that children and young people’s mental health and well-being has been seriously affected by the pandemic. For those already facing disadvantage, the effects can be even more severe.
Click here to watch UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador, Dr Alex George, in his BBC documentary ‘Our Young Mental Health Crisis’. A poignant film in response to Alex’s younger brother Llyr taking his own life in the summer of 2020.
Our BBC Children In Need funded Teenvine Plus Next Steps project delivers one-to-one and group sessions with their peers for young people living in Coventry, isolated before COVID-19 due to special educational needs and/or a disability and further isolated by the crisis.
Mencap’s 75th anniversary survey has highlighted the importance of encouraging people to educate themselves about learning disabilities:
- Two-thirds of adults surveyed admitted they do not know what a learning disability is;
- More than a quarter said they would feel apprehensive about talking to someone with a learning disability for the first time.
Next Steps sets out to achieve greater resilience, engagement with education and improved social skills for each young person, through a person-centred plan that helps unlock their creativity, their freedom of expression and identity while growing their ambitions, confidence and connections to networks of support that will be there for them now and in the future.
Here’s a few photos of some of our work in action over the last few weeks. Next Steps and Teenvine Plus form part of our #StrengtheningPeople action strand at Grapevine.
You can also watch Janson’s ‘A World Through Different Eyes’ – on the subject of difference – for Next Steps.
And five short stop-motion animation films in collaboration with Let’s Animate by Garth, Ellie, Kyle, Sean and Marshall from Next Steps.
To make a donation to BBC Children In Need, please go to www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey. Or for help and support to www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.