Bristol office selects Springboard Opportunity Group as their chosen charity to support

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This year, our Bristol office voted for Springboard Opportunity Group as their office charity. We have made a £15,000 donation to the charity for this financial year – this is enough to fund a week of preschool sessions for 75 children, out of the 130 children they support in total. Our people will be looking at ways to fundraise to add to this donation throughout the year, hopefully equating to this difference. We have also committed to donate another £15,000 next year.

Based near Bristol, Springboard provides a safe and secure place where children with disabilities can learn and flourish. They provide preschool sessions to children who may not otherwise be able to access an Early Years education in mainstream; whilst also supporting families in the community via Stay & Play sessions and Family Practitioner work.

Children attending Springboard may have a learning disability, physical difficulties, complex medical needs, social communication, and interaction challenges including autism, or sensory needs. Some children are life limited.

Springboard benefit from having a strong team of almost 40 qualified and experienced staff and involve over 30 dedicated and hard-working volunteers. Their staff have built up a strong base of knowledge and expertise over many years, which they share with parents and carers and with staff in local authority pre-schools.

By starting as early and as individually as possible with a child and their family, Springboard support them through the crucial and often frightening steps of the early years. They give them the tools they need for years to come and help give these young children the very best start in life.

 

Kirsty & Edith’s story

Closer to home, The Springboard Opportunity Group offered support to Carrie Every’s cousin, Kirsty, and Kirsty’s daughter, Edith. Below is their story.

“Edith was very young and I pushed the thought of her needing specialist care or groups to the back of my mind. Fast forward a few months and it started to become apparent that I didn't feel comfortable taking Edith to regular baby groups. I knew that Edith’s path was going to look very different and I didn’t know why she didn’t respond and behave like other children her age. I wasn't emotionally prepared to answer questions from strangers.

Feeling more and more isolated I sought out a Springboard coffee morning which would give me the opportunity to speak with someone about what they could offer. I walked into a room of a few strangers and was immediately met by smiles. I was offered a cup of tea and started to talk to one of the Family Support Workers.

After this meet I began to attend Springboard Stay and Play sessions where I had the opportunity to meet other families facing similar challenges. This was the first time I had ever spoken to other parents who had children with disabilities, it was finally a language I could understand. I found my niche within a small group of parents whose children had similar abilities to Edith and it was here that I finally began to feel less and less isolated.

In order for me to gain some respite and for Edith to experience the opportunity to interact with other children and make friends she began Springboard sessions. They have hello and goodbye songs, a wonderful sensory area, a chance to get messy with paints and a trampoline for bouncing!

During these sessions I would leave Edith, confident that that all her complex learning and care needs were being met by experienced staff.

Edith faced some of her most difficult challenges to date whilst at Springboard and they were quite simply my lifeline……….. if they hadn’t been there I wouldn’t like to think of the impact on our family. They were a friendly ear when things were all too overwhelming and I knew we were in the best and most experienced pair of hands.

Springboard offer an opportunity to parents like no other and through them I have made friends for life.”

 

Nikki Tams, Springboard’s Business Manager, said:

“We are so grateful that Mewburn Ellis have chosen us to be their charity partner for two years. The demand for our support and services is steadily growing, and we rely on the generosity of our corporate partners and fundraisers to be able to help as many families as possible. As we only receive partial government funding for the work that we do, we need to raise nearly £300,000 each year from grants and fundraising to continue providing our invaluable services.”

You can find out more about Springboard Opportunity on their website here: https://www.springboardweb.org.uk/

You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.

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Maria Hall

Maria is the firm’s Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the Management Board. She is responsible for all marketing and business development at the firm. Maria is also heavily involved in the Forward Community Programme at the firm and is the ESG Lead. She was previously Group Marketing Director at an international IP firm and before that Marketing Director for a full service European law firm. Other roles have included Head of Marketing at the world’s largest IP services provider and Account Director for a full service marketing agency.

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