Our Charity Work

I’m really sad to say that Covid has affected our charity like every other charity and business and we have had to make the difficult decision to leave our current office after 4 rewarding years. This was us at the end of the summer when we made the difficult decision to leave at the end of our lease in December 💔

Fundraising is at the lowest it has ever been and I’ve not felt comfortable asking people to donate/fundraise as I know many people are struggling both mentally and financially.
As many of you know, we are not funded by the government or any other body, we are funded solely by donations.

Despite this, all of this year, during every lockdown, Brightest Star has still been operating, providing online counselling sessions, telephone and online support and distributing memory boxes.
We have still had to pay all of costs, our rent, insurances, wages, memory boxes.
We have still provided school uniforms and groceries to those in need.
Thanks to the Jet Garage Staff and customers in Renfrew we were able to provide Xmas presents to those in need in the local area. We were also one of the first organisations to provide PPE to hospitals, GPs and care homes at the start of the pandemic.

I have always felt uneasy posting about fundraising, it just doesn’t sit right with me but when you are a charity and rely on donations, what can you do?
When the charity first started, everyone was fundraising because they wanted to do something to help or something for Jack.

Time moves on, people move on, people have other charities that need their help etc and I have always said that if people want to fundraise for the charity then they will. Maybe that’s not the case and maybe we do need to ask people for help...if they can.
The sad reality is that people will still lose their sons, daughters, grandchildren, siblings in 2021 and our services will continue to be needed.

As we approach the start of a new year, people setting new challenges, New Years resolutions, walking, running, losing weight, getting fitter, doing fundraising events, I just want to ask people to keep Brightest Star in their minds.
Whether it’s £1, £5 or £50, every single penny counts and I know the difference this makes to the bereaved families that we support. If you can donate or fundraise in 2021, below is our JustGiving page.
https://www.justgiving.com/brighteststarscotland

If you share this post, it might only share the video and not the content so can I ask you to please help us by commenting on the post, tagging some friends in it and then sharing the post. Hopefully this way, more people will see the post and we can help more families in 2021. This is will only take minutes of your time but it will make all the difference to the future of our charity.

I would like to end this year by thanking everyone who has donated to Brightest Star this year.
The families we support needed our support more than ever in 2020, being isolated in their grief was a particularly challenging time and we were able to provide them with a lifeline.

We could provide that thanks to YOU and YOUR DONATIONS.
We will be setting up in a smaller, more affordable office and I will keep you all updated on that.

Wishing you all love, peace and hope for a better 2021 xx

Watch our video here