Service Six Awarded £25,000

Service Six were absolutely delighted to recently receive the wonderful news that they had been awarded £25,000 by the Garfield Weston Foundation.

The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, charitable grant-making foundation, which supports a wide range of causes across the UK, donating over £80 million annually.  It was established in 1958 by the Weston family and is one of the largest and most respected charitable institutions in the UK which has donated over £1 billion in total.

The funding provided by the Garfield Weston Foundation will help support our general running costs during 2021 allowing us to support even more vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and their families in the local communities served by Service Six.

As a charity, the demand for the services we provide already often outstrips the free places we can offer in respect of therapy sessions and places on our range of innovative and award-winning projects. What is more, we both expect, and are seeing, demand for our services growing due to Covid-19 and the effect this is having on young people and their mental health as routines change, they have become isolated from friends and extended family and issues such as domestic abuse and online grooming - as people spend more time online during lockdown - increase.

Service Six CEO Claudia Slabon said, “It has been widely reported that the mental health of young people has suffered during lockdown, particularly amongst those who were already struggling with mental health issues prior to the pandemic. Young people have been worried about their education, have had their routines interrupted and have been unable to meet with family and friends. Those who come from less affluent backgrounds also have the added pressures of living in cramped conditions and often have parents who may be struggling financially, which all adds to the issues caused by COVID-19. These are the very children, young people and families that Service Six have been supporting over the last 40 years”. Claudia added, “We are seeing more and more people request help from Service Six and this amazing donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation will go a long way in allowing us to meet this demand. We would like to say a massive thank you to the trustees of the Garfield Weston Foundation for choosing to support the work of Service Six".