Awards and recognition for its work over the past few years has left a Milton Keynes children’s bereavement charity with referrals 56% up year-on-year, but with revenue that is unfortunately failing to keep pace in these challenging times.
Harry’s Rainbow was founded in 2009 by Odette Mould following the death of her five-year-old son. The charity focuses on children and young people who have lost a parent or sibling. As well as providing information and guidance to help children who are grieving, Harry’s Rainbow also runs support groups, family breaks, activities, trips and individual tailored support where it is needed.
Events such as Harry’s Wonderland Ball, which raised £17,000 last year, and fundraising events from supporters across the region, help the charity continue to deliver its services but the plain truth is that as demand grows, revenue will need to increase significantly.
Odette was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022 and was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards earlier this year, as well as winning the Community Impact – Employed category at this year’s Milton Keynes Women Leaders UK Awards. The charity was also a Gold Winner in the Positive Impact Award at the SME MK and Buckinghamshire Business Awards 2022.
Odette said: “We are very proud of all the ways we have been recognised over the past couple of years, and we’ve become a trusted source of support and information, which is wonderful. It’s clear there are so many children out there that need our help because referrals have increased by around 56% over the past year. The truth is, though, that although we have some wonderful people fundraising for us in all sorts of ways, we still aren’t generating the revenue we need to help as many children as we’d like to.
“As our profile grows and the more people find out about us, the more work we need to do and the more services we need to provide. But these are difficult times and most charities are suffering because people aren’t in a position to give the way they used to, while grant applications are so competitive and we’ve had no success with those this year.”
It is estimated that in the Milton Keynes area alone, around 100 parents will die each year, leaving some 170 dependent children. Harry’s Rainbow is increasingly being approached by schools that have children who have lost a parent or sibling and that feel a pupil would benefit from the support and services the charity provides. Last year, Harry’s Rainbow received 21 school enquiries, whereas in the first half of 2023 it has already had 26. The enquiries were not only for support for bereaved children, but als
o to help staff who need to know how best to support bereaved children and their families.
“That’s good because it shows that we have become a trusted source of support, but we need more resources,” said Odette. “We’ve calculated that, on average, the cost of a child accessing the first year of our services is £650, and many of them are supported for longer than that.
“What we’d like to see, and what we think schools need, is for them to be proactive in their approach to child bereavement. We have created a training programme for staff which we’ve delivered as a pilot within a school setting to multiple staff members, with very positive feedback. Schools need this help and guidance, but we are not in a position to provide it as we do not have the resource or funding. This is, however, an area that could generate funding and we could deliver it at a very affordable cost.
“Other than that, we can only appeal to any business or organisations that are looking to do fundraising events to consider Harry’s Rainbow as their chosen charity.”
Find out more about Harry’s Rainbow at www.harrysrainbow.co.uk, email info@harrysrainbow.co.uk or
call 01908 061676
