Like many charities, KidsOut is facing unprecedented challenges with the spread of COVID 19. KidsOut has been forced to cancel or postpone all its fundraising events over the next three months resulting in a loss of over £400,000. This has jeopardized the day-to-day running of our organisation. With events making up over 50% of KidsOut’s cash income, this loss will be devastating for our children’s services. To put this into context, this income would have funded a minimum of 15,000 Fun Days out or 4,000 Toy Boxes for vulnerable children being rehomed.

However, all hope is not lost. KidsOut is adapting, looking to raise new funds and deliver its services to children who will be even more isolated than they already are in these trying times. To reflect this, the charity is temporarily rebranding, changing to “KidsIn”. The team is focusing on providing positive experiences that children can enjoy while staying indoors, as well as planning for days out to be enjoyed when the social distancing measures end!

Here are some of the things KidsIn is doing to spread fun & happiness and how you can help!

Essential Coronavirus Relief to Domestic Abuse Victims with Direct Line Group!

KidsOut is delighted to announce the launch of a new partnership with the Direct Line Group to support the physical and mental welfare of some society’s most vulnerable children during the coronavirus pandemic. The two organisations are coordinating the delivery of £50 worth of food vouchers and over £100 worth of new toys to every family currently living in a Women’s Aid Federation (WAFE) refuge in the UK.

While KidsOut supports children from a range of backgrounds, it is the only national charity focusing on the needs of children in refuge and works with every WAFE refuge in the UK. With the generous backing of the Direct Line Group, the charity is using its “KidsIn” initiative to provide essential support for these children while they are stuck indoors during lockdown measures. Over the 14th, 15th, and 16th April, KidsOut has sent a £25 food voucher to the 3,500 families currently living in a WAFE refuge. The following week, commencing 20th April, KidsOut will be providing a brand-new box of toys and activities worth over £100 to over 5,000 children in these refuges. The week commencing 27th April will see KidsOut deliver another £25 food voucher to families.

Click here for the whole story!

World Stories!

With schools around the UK closing, and teachers and parents looking for ways to ensure students continue to learn at home, now is the perfect time to immerse yourself in KidsIn’s World Stories library!

World Stories is a FREE educational resource designed to enrich a child’s education and allow parents and teachers to easily access literacy resources at home. The online database has a growing collection of stories from around the world, including retold traditional tales and new short stories in the languages most spoken by UK children.

Visit www.worldstories.org.uk to access the virtual library and start exploring today!

Please do share this with as many teachers, staff, parents and children as possible so that they can benefit from our free resource!

 

Toy Box!

With families being asked to stay indoors, KidsIn has decided to increase its Toy Box service to ensure children in refuge can receive brand-new toys to play with in these isolating times. Each Toy Box contains over £120 worth of carefully selected new toys, age and gender appropriate. Every box generally includes: a jigsaw puzzle, a board game, a soft toy, an activity or craft set, a reading book, and a range of other items often out of reach for mothers leaving refuge. Our plan is to support the development and mental health of children isolated in women’s refuges by sending out 3,000 Toy Boxes in the coming weeks! A big thank you to FedEx for their amazing support in assisting our team with the delivery of Toy Boxes. For more information about the Toy Box Service, click here!

“My son didn’t have many toys as everything was left behind. When he opened the box he was so excited, it brought tears to my eyes, I can’t thank you enough” – Mum of Toy Box recipient

Disney+ for Women’s Refuges!

As part of our new KidsIn initiative, we are offering women’s refuge around the UK a FREE three-month subscription to Disney+. The new streaming service hosts a whole range of movies and TV shows from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and more. The charity will cover the costs of this subscription for refuges, with children and mothers having the opportunity to bond and enjoy quality entertainment while social distancing.

Donate and Support our Work!

KidsIn requires funds to ensure the longevity of our work. If just 1,000 people signed up for a £10 direct debit for the next six months (averaging 30p a day), this would ensure the charity could maintain its services and continue to bring fun and happiness to children living through extreme difficulty at no fault of their own.

Click here to sign up for a direct debit of £10 a month and help us support the UK’s most vulnerable children at this trying time*: https://kidsoutuk.charitycheckout.co.uk/KidsOutDirectDebit/

There are other ways to donate if you do not wish to set up a direct debit:

• ONLINE* using https://kidsoutuk.charitycheckout.co.uk/donate/ by completing the online form and following the steps though the website.
• CHEQUES made payable to KidsOut UK and sent to: KidsOut, 14 Church Square, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 1AE

Here are some of the things your donation could help fund:

• £250 could cover the cost of delivery of new toys to refuges all over the UK
• £50 could fill half a Toy Box with games and activities for a child relocated away from refuge
• £20 will take a child on a fun day out (when it is safe to resume)
• £10 could buy a brand-new toy and bring a smile to a child fleeing domestic violence to the sanctuary of a women’s refuge

*The online donation pages will ask if you would like to leave a “voluntary gift” to Charity Checkout. If you do not wish to do this, select “Other” in the drop-down menu and enter £0.

If you need assistance or have questions, please call the office on 01525 385252 or email us at [email protected]

Thank you for your continued support. It is fair to say that KidsOut has never needed your support more than it does now.

Take Part in a Virtual Sponsored Run/Walk For KidsIn!

Daily exercise is one of the few respites enjoyed by people in these challenging times. Whether it’s a run or walk, being active can be hugely beneficial for both physical and mental health. But did you know you can use your daily exercise to support the physical and mental health of those less fortunate as well?

You can help KidsIn bring fun and happiness to disadvantaged children around the UK by turning your daily exercise into a “virtual” sponsored run or walk! Either as an individual or part of a team, you can set yourself a distance target to achieve over the next few weeks/months around where you live and have your friends, family, and colleagues sponsor you! The KidsIn team will help get you set up with an online sponsorship page so you can focus on smashing your goal and encouraging people to donate and support the charity!

Get creative and set yourself an ambitious target! Wanted to run a marathon but have never had the time to train properly? Why not run the distance over a few weeks around the streets where you live? Think your team can collectively run the length of the UK? Now is the time to split the distance and prove your team is up to it! If running is not your thing, don’t sweat it. Walk the distance instead!

Sign-up and start your fundraising today by emailing [email protected]

Don’t forget to keep the KidsIn team up to date with your progress by posting how you’re going on social media and tagging @KidsOut and using the hashtags #Run4KidsIn or #Walk4KidsIn!

[Please note: You should only take part in this activity if it is safe for you to do so and you are following government social distancing rules. Similarly, any teams should be collaborating remotely, and those taking part in any physical activity should be doing so alone.]

Share your “Fun Days In” and donate to KidsIn!

At a time when many children will now be in quarantine in refuges across the country, they need our services more than ever to experience fun and happiness while living through extreme difficulty. As soon as the social distancing restrictions are lifted, we can get back to taking children on Fun Days out to theatres, cinemas, and other exciting activities beneficial the protection and preservation of a child’s welfare. COVID-19 will come to an end and when it does we need to make sure that we are in the best possible shape to get straight back to doing what we do best as the ‘fun and happiness’ charity: putting smiles on the faces of children.

To help us provide Fun Days out after the social distancing measures have been lifted, you can take part in our “Fun Days In” campaign! Simply upload a photo or video of yourself having a Fun Day in your home to social media using the #FunDaysIn, and then text ‘FUNDAYSIN 5’ to 70085 to donate £5!* Help us spread Fun and Happiness across the UK by donating today!

*Donations can be made by texting the code FUNDAYSIN followed by a space and the amount as a number to 70085. For example, to donate £10 you would text the following to 70085: ‘FUNDAYSIN 10’. You can opt to give any whole amount up to £20. Texts cost the amount you want to donate plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to donate but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text FUNDAYSINNOINFO 3 to 70085.