Friends make life better in so many ways; they encourage, support, challenge and motivate us.
Bringing smiles and happiness of Christmas to the children of Portsmouth is the main reason we organise the sleigh every year.. However it also gives us the opportunity to give something back, and therefore we will be collecting and raising money for Friend Finder which is our chosen charity for 2018.
You can donate £2 now by sending a text with “RTBI91 2” to 70020.
Chronically ill and disabled children miss time at school; this not only affects their education, but also means they miss out on establishing friendships. Studies show that genuine friendships result in better health – something that the children Friend Finder helps could definitely benefit from!
Lewis Hine started Friend Finder as a 14 year old, who found himself feeling lonely and isolated. Lewis discovered that there are over 1 million children in the UK suffering from a long term illness or disability that require time away from school. Lewis decided that he would bring as many children as he could to have fun and make friends.
What do they do?
Friend Finder arrange a variety of events for children. So far they have held Christmas parties, discos, wheelchair basketball, gaming sessions, soft play sessions and indoor skiing.
Last year they held the first ever Friend Finder Prom for chronically ill and disabled young people at the Guildhall in Portsmouth. The event was such a huge success and has lead to further proms this year in Portsmouth, Birmingham and London.
Friend Finder receive so many requests every day from/on behalf of young people all over the UK and are trying to reach as many of them as they can. Unfortunately with limited funds this is not always possible. Like a lot of charities they rely on donations from the public. As a registered charity, they do not employ staff and all of the volunteers work very hard to ensure that every penny you donate is maximised!