DHL eCommerce event supports Guy’s Gift

On Thursday 27th February, we were invited to attend the launch of DHLs new eCommerce hub in Coventry.

Brian and Lisbeth attended the event, and met with many customers of DHL, and were able to share about what Guy’s Gift does in our local community, and why bereavement support for children and young people is so vital.

We met lots of interesting people, and were able to talk about Guy’s Gift mission as well as getting some lovely offers of support from local businesses.

As part of the event, DHL have donated 35 ‘e-Comm Eddy’ bears to Guy’s Gift. These bears will be finding their way to new homes with children and young people who we support.

We’d like to say a great big THANK YOU to Adam Webb and his team at DHL for supporting Guy’s Gift and inviting us along to the event last week.

If you would like to donate to the DHL fundraiser running alongside this event, you can do so here:

Guy's Gift opening hours New Year 2024/25

Guy’s Gift will be closed from lunchtime on Christmas Eve, until Thursday 2nd January 2025.

If you get in touch with us in the meantime, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can when we reopen in the new year.

For now, we wish you all a pleasant New Year break.

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Lantern Walk 2024

After having to cancel the Lantern Walk last weekend, we were so pleased to be able to offer a stripped back Lantern Walk yesterday (15th December) and it was lovely to see so many families still able to attend.

We met at 3:30 at Ryton Pools, and took a short walk with our lanterns to a meeting point.

At the meeting point, Rebecca shared a few words with the group about the importance of hold moments for those we love who are no longer with us. Libby shared a poem which Sophie had written for the group, and several within our group shared about who they were remembering and what the walk meant to them.

It’s always a special afternoon, and to know we were able to hold some time together despite the storm last week, was really important.

Thanks to all who joined us yesterday, and we look forward to seeing many of you join us again next year too.

Spider-man event 2024

We were recently invited to an event hosted by The Brother’s Trust, where a number of Guy’s Gift families headed down to Battersea Power Station to a screening of Spider-man: No Way Home.

The event took place on Sunday morning, 8th December, and families attending were treated to a meet and greet with Tom Holland (Spider-man himself!) along with getting a photo with him. They then received gorgeous goodie bags from M&S, and found their seats to watch the film.

After the film, Tom returned for a Q&A with the children, answering questions ranging from how he got into acting, all sorts of questions about the films, if he might marry Zendaya (he refused to answer this one), and what his worst Christmas present ever was.

Tom Holland’s whole family were there, as the heads of The Brother’s Trust. It was wonderful to chat with them about the work they do, and the support they show to so many children’s charities across the UK.

A HUGE thank you to the charity for inviting us to join the event, and for creating such a special Christmas treat for so many children and young people.

EVENT CANCELLED: Lantern Walk 2024

This isn’t the news we wanted to be sharing this afternoon, but due to the ongoing Storm Darragh we’ve had to take the decision to cancel the Lantern Walk which was taking place tomorrow.

We haven’t taken this decision lightly, but everyone’s safety is very important to us. Even if the winds and rain subside tomorrow, the conditions on the roads are not great.

It’s our intention to get the event rescheduled, so we’ll be in touch with all families who were hoping to attend tomorrow as soon as we have updates.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2024: Moving more for our mental health

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the team have been out and about sharing information about Guy’s Gift across several Warwickshire College sites.

Did you manage to catch up with one of the team and find out more about bereavement support?

The theme of the week, this year, is ‘Movement: moving more for your mental health’.   It’s shown that moving more is good for your mental health, so we have been asking the team and some of the children and young people we work with what they find helpful.

We’ve heard from some children and young people that sport helps them to manage some of their feelings and emotions, particularly being active outdoors with friends. Others have told us that looking after their horse and being active when riding helps them feel more comfortable with some of their feelings after someone important has died.

One of our counsellors, Libby Frost, shared that she sometimes provides space to walk and talk during support sessions, and being able to do this has helped some children and young people enormously.

Sophie Peel, Delivery Team Leader (groups and support to support) shared that dance is a great outlet for emotions, and remembers this helping her when she was younger.  On the theme of dancing, Rebecca Hepburn talked about learning TikTok dances which are great for being active (and my goodness are some of them active!) and also often end up being lots of fun too.

The Mental Health Foundation share their tips for moving more for your mental health: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week/boost-your-mental-health-moving-more  

Here at Guy’s Gift we’d love to hear from you too, about where you find your moments for movement, and how it works for you.

Whatever you do, we know the positive difference it can have. It sometimes feels hard to start with, but once you get going often it’s a lot of fun - and that simple act of movement is helping you too.

Did you know that volunteering with a charity can reduce your risk of developing age related diseases, keep your brain active, help to reduce blood pressure and even improve your mental health? 

If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Guy's Gift, please email volunteering@guysgift.co.uk.

Fundraising Superstars!

This weekend, a team of fabulous fundraisers hit the streets in Coventry, running the half marathon and raising donations for Guy’s Gift.

A huge THANK YOU and congratulations to the team involved, at the time of writing they have raised almost £1000.

This is an incredible total, and we’re so appreciative of the team out there running and raising donations and awareness of Guy’s Gift. This support means many more families will be able to access support when faced with a bereavement.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/lauras-half-marathon-2024

Volunteer Ann Jones collects volunteering award

We were delighted that one of our wonderful volunteers (and trustee) Ann Jones was presented with a Community Spirit Award for volunteering in the Warwickshire area.

We are immensely proud of Ann and the commitment she knows not just to Guy’s Gift, but to the whole community. Ann is passionate about bereavement support, and we know what a huge impact she makes with families attending our bereavement group sessions.

Thank you for all you do with Guy’s Gift, Ann. A true superstar!

Tesco Fundraising Thanks!

Last week, Rebecca popped in to meet the team at Tesco in Atherstone, and to be presented with a cheque for Guy's Gift for £1000.

We've been part of the blue token scheme locally, and to be able to thank Tesco and all of you who put your blue tokens in the pot for us is really special. An extra thankyou to Tesco for donating some salt too, for children and young people to use when making memory jars!

We're currently in voting at stores in the Leamington and Warwick areas (Lillington Express, Leamington Parade, Warwick Superstore and Warwick Express. Aswell as in voting in the Southam store too. So if you're out shopping in those areas, please don't forget to grab your blue token and vote for Guy's Gift!

After all - Every Little Helps!

Hospital Support Packs delivered

On 14th March, we were delighted to see our Bereavement Support Packs delivered to Jackie Hobson and Debbie Sherwell at Warwick Hospital.

A huge thank you to Leamington Spa Rotary for their fundraising last year, and to Anna Lapworth, Mel Ayers and the team at EA Games in Southam for volunteering their time to put the packs together and deliver them to McGregor ward.

Sophie Peel (Delivery Team Leader - Groups and Support to Support) went along too, representing Guy’s Gift. Sophie will be supporting the team at the hospital further, with guidance on using the resources to help bereaved children and families.

Sophie shared that it was clear how passionate the team at the hospital are about the support Guy’s Gift are able to provide, and grateful they are to have resources to hand for when they are needed.

Remember, support with Guy’s Gift can be accessed by any child who has experienced the death of someone important to them. To make a referral, you can call us on 0845 467 3035 or complete the contact form here and one of the team will call you back.