The Transcend team recently dusted off their gardening gear to spend the day at the Acorns Childrens’ Hospice in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for the second year running.
Acorns is a charity that provides care to children and young people aged between 0 and 18 years, with life limiting conditions, along with support for their families.
The day brought glorious sunshine – and the only sunshine in the entire week!
Dee McCann (Volunteers Manager) gave us an overview on developments at the centre since the last time we had been there. The story was once again inspiring, hard hitting, but also one of joy. It was clear to see how the centre provides children and families with a safe haven, but also how these children crave the everyday events that we all take for granted. We heard stories of children being excited at the thought of riding a train into Birmingham city centre (painful for the rest of us – we know!), enjoying visiting the local supermarket to pick ingredients for their dinner, and then helping make their dinner.
However, we also heard how much it costs to keep the charity running (approx £10m pa), and how much they rely on donations and volunteers.
The bright sunshine helped increased the energy of the Transcend team as we undertook a range of activities, including: an inventory check, raking, weeding, window cleaning, mowing, clearing paths, supporting the fundraising office and painting fences. It was a day jam-packed with activity, and whilst we were all aching at the end of it (some of us more than others!), it was extremely satisfying to see the fruits of our labour at the end of the day.
Steve Bartlett, Partner at Transcend, commented, “Acorns is a fantastic organisation, providing real care and support to families going through a difficult time. Acorns serves to brighten the lives of life-limited children and their families, and therefore we were extremely pleased that we were able to make a small contribution.”
In 2016 alone, Acorns supported over 800 children and nearly 1,100 families, including those bereaved, across the West Midlands – a fantastic achievement.
What certainly came across to us was how the Acorns team truly believe in the service and are so passionate about helping its users. As a team we were inspired and hope to keep supporting Acorns in years to come.
