2022 Champion Update

Written by Proton Foundation on 29/03/2022. Posted in Champion Membership. No Comments on 2022 Champion Update

Champion 2022 Update

1 year of The Champion Membership

In the last year we’ve been able to impact almost 1000 children, young people and facilitators.

The Flourish Project is being delivered in 17 different locations throughout England, Scotland and Wales, and we’re about to train another 7 Hubs who will begin to deliver the project before the end of this academic year.

As a team we’ve expanded and welcomed the amazing Hanna Palliser as our Flourish Administrator. Hanna is a very gifted administrator, and having her on team has been instrumental in making the process of recruiting and training Hubs so much easier.

Within our first year of Champion membership we’ve added 55 Champions. Without you and our other Champions, we’d never have been able to achieve so much in such unprecedented times. Thank you for partnering with us and Championing children and young people.

Our Aims for 2022

Of course we’re not resting on our laurels; this year we know we’ll be able to impact even more lives and communities.

We’re aiming to establish 20 brand new Hub locations across the UK to begin to deliver the Flourish Project. We’re in the process of adding 7 new Hubs already!

We’d like at least 10 of our existing Hubs to continue delivering the Flourish Project in their community. Hanna joining the team has given us the opportunity to be more intentional about building relationships and supporting Hubs that are continuing to deliver the project.

Speaking Engagements

As a team we’re aiming to get the word out about Flourish and becoming a Champion. We’re planning to talk in a number of different churches sharing the Flourish project and inviting people to partner with us. If your church or organisation would like to invite a team member along to talk about our projects, please don’t hesitate to contact: Hanna.palliser@protonfoundation.com

The Mustard Seed Gift Fund

We’re launching a brand new initiative! Something that we’re really excited about! The Mustard Seed Gift Fund will be a fund made available to partner and support other projects, charities, organisations or individuals who have a heart or vision that compliment our own.

This Mustard Seed Gift Fund is unique in a way that we’ll be sharing with you soon.

Once again, thank you for partnering with us to champion children, families and communities across the UK and beyond.

Children’s Mental Health

Written by Proton Foundation on 11/02/2022. Posted in Champion Membership, Flourish Project. No Comments on Children’s Mental Health

Children’s Mental Health

Recently, BBC News released an article about the rise in the number of children needing specialist treatment for severe mental health crisis, especially as a result of the pandemic. Now more than ever, everyday conversations about mental health can help support children’s wellbeing.

Click the link below to read the full article.

BBC News: Children’s Mental Health

Our response to the above article:

“We are in a mental health pandemic of epic proportions. As an organisation who has worked alongside 1500 young people over the last 5 years, we have seen this evidence first hand. Schools are feeling overwhelmed and under resourced.

We, the ‘Flourish Project’, are seeing increases in self-harm, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, self-destructive behaviours, anxiety, the list could go on and on.

Everyone has a part to play in helping to tackle this crisis, we ‘society’ can no longer be spectators and say it’s not my problem. It is our problem and it is all around us. We need to look to solutions that can be put in place now…to stop this from spiralling further out of control.”

Everyone has a part to play in helping to tackle this crisis. Keep the conversations happening!

Iris Hume

Written by Proton Foundation on 14/06/2021. Posted in Champion Membership, Supporter of the Quarter. No Comments on Iris Hume

Supporter of the Quarter

Who:
Iris and her husband Barney are our first ever Champions from Northern Ireland. Iris has worked as a nurse for 43 years and is currently a MS specialist nurse based in the Ulster Hospital in Belfast. She has been tirelessly adapting and caring for some of the most vulnerable in our society, continuing to offer consultations via zoom to care for her patients’ needs.
I’m sure you’ll join us in thanking Iris and the thousands of other health care and NHS workers who have kept us safe and cared for us so well, especially over the last year.

Why:
Not only does Iris professionally care for people in her work life, but she and her husband Barney are continually looking for ways to love and support others around them through their generosity. Iris became a Champion because as a mother she was very aware of the need to support our children, families and communities better. Iris has heard of the impact of the Flourish Project through her son who currently works with the project to promote it in his local area.

Thank you:
Thank you for partnering with us Iris, and for championing children, families and communities. Without your partnership and support we know we couldn’t have had the impact we have had over the last three months in numerous local communities.

Champion Membership – June 2021 Update

Written by Proton Foundation on 14/06/2021. Posted in Champion Membership. No Comments on Champion Membership – June 2021 Update

At the Proton Foundation we’re so thankful that you’ve partnered with us to answer the call to champion children, families and communities. We want to keep you up to date on what we have achieved together over the last three months.

Since establishing the Champion Membership on the 1st March 2021, we’ve been able to welcome 54 Champions to partner with us in our mission to champion children, families and communities.

As Champions, you’ve been more generous than we could have ever imagined. When we met as a team to talk about the Champion membership, our goal was to sign up 100 Champions by 1st June 2021 all contributing £3 each.

As I write this we’re now partnering with 54 Champions, but each Champion on average is giving £8.93 a month. This very simply means that together we’ve been able to smash our goal of 100 Champions donating £3 a month, and we’ve actually got the equivalent of 160 Champions donating £3 per month.

Because of your generosity, together we’ve been able to achieve more than we ever thought we could in our first three months in partnership.

Since March we’ve trained 34 adults from all across Great Britain to become Flourish Project facilitators. These 34 facilitators are a mixture of teachers, youth workers, children’s workers, staff from other charities, volunteers and parents who are now fully equipped to deliver the project to at least 10 children each, giving us the ability to impact at least 340 children and young people.

We’ve added 11 additional Hubs in Aberdeen, South Wales and the Midlands, these are centres that are equipped to go into their local schooling communities to deliver the Flourish Project.

From the Champion memberships inception in March to date, over 200 additional children are currently participating in the Flourish Project. This is something we expect to increase as our additional hubs begin to deploy the project.

We’ve released our Flourish Online ‘pilot’ to a number of schools across the UK giving out 123 licences. It has been well received by students and through this pilot we have had the opportunity to work through some initial teething problems with regards to the platform compatibility with certain school networks.

Thanks to your financial support we are able to pursue a number of solutions. Enabling us to and fully launch Flourish Online after September 2021.

Over the next three months we’re preparing to train more facilitators, deploy Flourish Online fully, add an additional 100 Champion members, have an additional five schools ready to deliver the Flourish Project in September 2021 and begin to roll out a few more new exciting ideas.

We value you and your continued partnership and support. We’re passionate about impacting 100,000 young people’s lives by 2030. We’re determined to continue to champion children, young people, families and communities and be a resource that inspires community transformation. We know this is not possible without your partnership and support, so thank you!

Please consider telling a friend or family member about the Proton Foundation and how they can play a pivotal role as a Champion just like you have.

Phil & the Proton Foundation team.