Support Mersey Cares by giving to our Give a Gift to Children in Care Appeal
We've been working with Children in Care teams across the Trust to understand more about how we can support their services and further enhance the care and experiences they provide to the children and young people they care for across Liverpool. Sefton, St Helens and Knowsley.
These teams are passionate about providing health and wellbeing support to children who have been in the care of their local authority up to the age of 18, up to 21 years for support and signposting and aged 25 for young people that may have additional needs.
This Children’s Mental Health Week we’re launching our Give a Gift to Children in Care Appeal in collaboration with our Children in Care teams across Mersey Care to support children in care with essential wellbeing items, milestone gifts and welcome packs.
Identifying need…
Up to 1,000 children and young people enter our Children in Care services each year; with some of these children arriving with minimal possessions, often tied up in a black bin bag, or with nothing at all. This can be an incredibly daunting and even scary time for children.
The need for the provision of essential care items for these children was identified as something that could make a huge difference to their wellbeing; helping children to feel more welcome and cared for during what can be an incredibly challenging time in their young lives.
So, how can you help us to support these children?
Your support can help us to:
Provide essential care packages for children entering services
Contributing to our Give a Gift to Children in Care appeal will empower our Children in Care teams to assist the children they support during challenging times by providing essential items like toothbrushes, sanitary items and toiletries. Additionally, it will enable us to gift them comforting items such as dressing gowns or slippers in welcome packages tailored to their individual needs.
Share a gift to mark the transition from childhood to young adulthood
Through our Give a Gift to Children in Care appeal, we'll be able to extend our support to children in care as they transition into adulthood. While birthdays are typically occasions for joy and celebration, reaching the age of 18 holds particular significance in a young person's life. Sadly, many of our most vulnerable children in care may not receive any birthday gifts at all. With your assistance, we can ensure that these young individuals receive an 18th birthday gift, marking their transition from childhood to young adulthood.
Kay McEneny, Named Nurse for Children in Care said:
"All four children in care teams are passionate and committed to make a difference for our most vulnerable children in society. The passion and commitment from all the nurses, 0-19 teams and the administration teams that manage a child in care caseload play a instrumental role promoting the health and wellbeing for our children placed in care."
Support us by registering to a Mersey Cares fundraising event
The appeal has set an initial fundraising target of £10,000 to support children with essential items across Cheshire and Merseyside. Knowsley Children in Care team kick started the appeal raising £540 by taking part in the Liverpool Santa Dash in December 2023. Team Manager, Michael Allcock, who took part in the 5km race, was able to buy around 20 £30 vouchers to support children transitioning to young adults at an annual event.
Help us to do more in 2024
After seeing the great things that staff fundraising can do for children and young people across the Trust, Michael and his team have now signed up the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge! This will see them walk a distance of 24.5 miles via the mountains of Pen-y-ghent (694m/2277ft), Whernside (736m / 2415ft), and Ingleborough (23m / 2372ft) in May, in aid of the charity.
Are you considering getting involved with a charity this year? We still need more individuals or teams to sign up and we'd love for you to #MakeItMerseyCares in 2024. The challenge offers a great opportunity to do something incredibly worthwhile to support service users, patients and staff in our communities, as well as achieve something quite special for yourself too. Find out more and register here
