Children First Derby Secures £321,529 Lottery Funding

Children First Derby has been awarded vital funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to ensure the continued provision of its highly valued Mentoring Service for the next five years.

The Mentoring Service is one of three bespoke services the charity provides and offers one-to-one mentoring support to children and young people aged between 10 to 18 years in the Derby area.

The service relies on the use of staff and trained volunteers, who provide essential mentoring support and guidance, helping to boost young people’s confidence, reduce isolation, and improve overall mental health and wellbeing. The mentors also help the young people develop strength and resilience needed for success in education and the workplace.

 

“We are delighted to hear that our funding bid from the National Lottery has proved successful,” said Children First Derby Chair, Fred Jacques. “We rely on public funding and fundraising initiatives to operate our Mentoring and Family Support Services. And our fundraising capacity has been greatly reduced over the last twelve months due to the effects of Covid 19. The decision to award Children First Derby £321,529 to support the running of this vital service, ensures that our Mentoring Service can continue to operate for the next five years, which is fantastic news.”

Operating from its premises in Leopold Street, Derby, Children First Derby is run by a small, dedicated team of staff and over 60 family support, mentoring and fundraising volunteers, providing much-needed support to around 400 vulnerable children and young people every year in the Derby area and beyond.

The charity’s bespoke Mentoring Service is operated by staff and specially trained volunteer mentors who meet with their mentees on a regular basis, acting as a positive role model.

The mentors help to build positive relationships and provide ongoing support. The children and young people are encouraged to participate in new, creative activities that they would otherwise be unable to experience, helping to reduce inequality. This enables them to them to develop new skills, confidently navigate challenges, and build self-esteem and confidence.

Charity founder, Milly Wigley, with the Children First Derby drama group, one of the many groups and activities organised by the Mentoring Service, to help reduce isolation and improve confidence and well-being

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Children First Derby Wins Queen’s Award

The team of volunteers at Children First Derby have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for their vital work supporting the Derby based charity, dedicated to working with vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and their families.

The prestigious award, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK and described as the MBE for charities, was officially presented to a small group of representatives of Children First Derby by H M Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Mrs Elizabeth Fothergill CBE.

 “I nominated the charity’s volunteers for this award due to the fantastic support they provide to children and their families in Derby,” said Children First Derby Patron, Sir Stephen Moss. “I am delighted the volunteers have been recognised for all their hard work and the amazing contributions they have made towards the wellbeing of their local community. It is a great achievement and richly deserved.”

Established in 1974, Children First Derby provides three bespoke services; a Family Support Service, a Mentoring Service for young people and a Supervised Contact Service for Looked After Children in Derby.

Operating from its premises in Leopold Street, Derby, the charity is run by a small dedicated team of staff and over 60 family support, mentoring and fundraising volunteers, providing much-needed support to around 400 vulnerable children and young people every year both in the Derby area and beyond.

On receiving the award, Children First Derby Chair, Fred Jacques, said “We are honoured to have been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. This award reflects the dedication and hard work of all our volunteers and staff at Children First Derby and the fantastic work they do supporting vulnerable children and their families.”

Due to ongoing covid 19 restrictions, the official ceremony was a small, socially distanced affair, adhering to the latest government guidelines throughout.

 Fred Jacques concludes, “We would like to thank H M Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Mrs Elizabeth Fothergill, for presenting our charity with this prestigious award. This is a fantastic boost to everyone’s morale during this time of difficulty and uncertainty.

 “We are looking forward to having another, much larger ceremony and inviting many more of the charity’s volunteers to celebrate this achievement as soon as the government guidelines allow.”

Children First Derby is one of 230 charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations remains high year on year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

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Children First Derby Founder Celebrates MBE

A celebratory reception was held in the Jacob Rivers VC Room at the Council House, Derby on Thursday evening March 8th 2019 in honour of Etheleen Mildred Wigley (Milly) being awarded the MBE for founding Children First Derby and for her services to vulnerable children.

The reception was hosted by the Mayor of Derby, Councillor John Whitby and who has made Children First Derby one of his charities for his year in office. Other attendees were Madame Mayor Juliette Whitby; Children First Derby staff, other volunteers, supporters and long standing members of the Board of Trustees.

The evening was sponsored by supporters and friends of the charity and Royal Crown Derby presented a special commemorative plate to  Milly at the celebration.

The Charity has gone from strength to strength over the last forty four years and in that time has helped thousands of vulnerable children, young people and families in Derby.

Organiser of the event Fundraising & PR Coordinator Gina Repton explained,

“Without the support of so many wonderful local individuals and organisations, Children First Derby probably would not exist after all these years and it is very gratifying to see that the work of not only the founder of the Charity, but all those
who have given so generously has been rewarded.”
 

For further information contact Gina Repton at Children First Derby

13 Leopold Street, Derby DE1 2HE

Tel: (01332) 341516, or email: [email protected]

 

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