Donation of 60,000 pens to Gainsborough charity to support vulnerable families and children

BRIC (Building Resilience in Communities) provides emotional support and practical help to children and their families to get them back on their feet after dealing with issues such as illness, disability, abuse, isolation, and the demands of having a young family.

BRIC organised a ‘Be Kind To All Kind’ event, which encouraged children to write a story about kindness and send it to BRIC’s office where a select few would be shared on the charity’s website, social media channels and newsletter.

The storytelling activity was so popular that BRIC ran out of resources for families that wanted to take part, so they sent out an appeal to the community and R.E.A.CH (Resources for Extra Activities for Children), a charity also based in Gainsborough, responded to the appeal and donated 60,000 pens.

R.E.A.CH is a community fund raising group that approaches companies and individuals to donate resources for particularly vulnerable children and their families and works with local schools and community groups to identify need and allocate resources.

Shiella Jennings at R.E.A.CH said: “We are always looking for ways to support some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families; particularly during such a difficult time after the pandemic and during the current dramatic rise in the costs of living."

Kamila Zolotar, community engagement manager at BRIC, said: “We organised the ‘Be Kind To All Kind’ activity with a hope to get children engaged with writing a story about being kind to encourage them to think about why everyone needs a little act of kindness sometimes, how does it impact on their personal energy and self-esteem, and those around them.

“Many families we support wanted to take part in this activity but due to high cost of living there is often no budget for the art and craft tools for the children.”

The donation will be used to support a range of programmes and initiatives, including the ‘Be Kind To All Kind’ activity for children.