‘Forget Me Not’ children’s hospice has won a prestigious Hospice UK ‘Innovation in Income Generation’ award for their work engaging with local South Asian communities.
The winning project was developed after the hospice identified that while around half of the families that the charity supports are from a South Asian background, there was a lack of awareness and understanding of its work within these communities.
‘Forget Me Not’ was keen to address this issue to ensure that all families who needed help were able to access its services as well as open up new fundraising opportunities. To deliver the project, Forget Me Not recruited a community engagement officer, who over the last 18 months has built strong relationships with influential figures and groups, leading to a number of valuable partnerships, events and activities.
This includes the charity’s first Iftar event earlier this year at the hospice, as well as being chosen as the charity of the year by former mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Masood Ahmed and the Asian Standard (Kirklees).
The Hospice UK judges said that the winning project was “a fantastic example of investing in fundraising for the medium to long term. The introduction of a community engagement officer into the fundraising team was a bold and innovative move and from the outset building trust with key individuals who could influence locally was the key to success.”
The judges were impressed by the “multiple successes this initiative has already seen from a well-attended dinner to increased engagement from trustees from diverse communities.”
Gareth Pierce, CEO designate at Forget Me Not, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have won this award. It’s testament to our pioneering approach to children’s hospice care – we’re always looking for new ways to ensure that no family has to face the loss of their child alone.
All credit to Salma Pandor, our community engagement officer, who has worked really hard to build relationships with key people, groups and organisations within South Asian communities across West Yorkshire to raise awareness of our services, dispel myths about what hospice care means and identify new fundraising opportunities.
As a charity that only receives a tiny fraction of the funds it needs from the government or NHS, this work is vital to help us continue to be here for the families who need us.”
Over the last year, Forget Me Not has also won an award for its unique work supporting families devastated by the sudden and unexpected death of their child and a Yorkshire Post business excellence award for employee wellbeing.
