Charity of the Month: June ‘CHUMS’

CHUMS is a mental health and emotional wellbeing service for children and young people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Offering various interventions which help to build resilience and give children and young people hope for the future. Sue Clarke, Head of Fundraising & Communications at CHUMS, told us a little more about the charity and how it works.

Can you please give us a brief overview of what your charity does and who it supports?

CHUMS Charity fills the gaps in local mental health provision in Bedfordshire and Luton; each service was created as a result of an unmet need.  The 5 services are:

1. The Trauma Service supporting children and young people (CYP) following a traumatic death by murder, suicide, road traffic collision or other sudden or multiple deaths of a loved one(s), together with the Non-bereavement Trauma Service – supporting CYP who have experienced sexual abuse, been witness to domestic violence or have experienced any other trauma.
2. The Bedfordshire Suicide Bereavement Service (BSBS) supporting families in the immediate aftermath of a suicide or suspected suicide up until the Coroner’s report
3. The Recreational Therapeutic football and music programmes for CYP who struggle to engage with traditional 1:1 talking therapies
4. The Babyloss Bereavement Service – supporting families following the death of their baby before, at or soon after birth
5. The Disability Friendship Scheme – offering a safe social space on a Friday evening for learning disabled and/or physically disabled young people aged 13-25 in Luton.

Where are you based?

We are based in Wrest Park in Silsoe, Bedfordshire which is in the middle of the County, to make us accessible to everyone across the County.

How much have you been impacted by Covid-19?

We have been doubly impacted by a huge increase in referrals for our 5 charitable services – especially with traumatic bereavement, domestic violence and suicide as well as the loss of our community and events income over the last 15 months. We were fortunate to get some Lottery funding as well as other emergency grant funding which has enabled us to continue to deliver all of our services remotely throughout lockdown.

What are your future hopes and aims for your charity?

We are very conscious that mental health referrals are likely to remain at an elevated level for some time to come so we are looking to expand our fundraising income streams and reach, in order to cope with the raised demand.

Are there any opportunities for people to get directly involved with the charity?

Yes there are plenty of opportunities to get involved via volunteering at our events, attending events and creating new events to raise both funds and awareness of CHUMS. We have our 25^th Anniversary coming up in 2022 so there will be lots of extra opportunities including a Black Tie Ball, a Picnic in the Park and several golf days to mark this special occasion.

Do you have a quote or testimonial from an individual who has directly benefited from your work?

Trauma 2021: “I have no words to say thank you Debbie, you helped us in our difficult time, especially for our child. I feel really happy to tell you he is a very different boy now. He has quite changed. This thing happened just because of you helped him. I really appreciate you have done your job in such a good way. Many thanks once again.”

Bedfordshire Suicide Bereavement Service 2021: “We have had so much support, kindness and understanding through this difficult time with the help of Diane.  She has been a wonderful help and we would like our donation to hopefully help other people in our situation as this has helped us so much.  Many thanks to you all.”

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CHUMS:

Head to: www.chumscharity.org

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chumscharity

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chumscharity

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chumscharity/