Purple Elephant Family Support is proud to say that family feedback has made it clear that its very busy year has made a real difference to local people’s lives. In this year alone, thanks to its National Lottery grant, we opened Frome’s new Youth Club, at the Key Centre, to cater for up to 20 young people aged between 8 and 13, and employed two new part-time core positions (Office and Finance Coordinator and Fundraiser).130 families accessed our free holiday activities this year; new children have taken part in our specialist one-to-one support Befriending service, our twice weekly Small Steps early years intervention groups, and our drop-in Stay-and-Play sessions; 12 families have been helped through 1:1 bespoke support; as well as over 3,000 people attending the always popular Frome Children’s Festival.
Across Purple Elephant’s services, 87% of service-users come from areas of high deprivation, 77% are recipients of either Free School Meals or social benefits and 41% have additional needs or disabilities. As Service Manager, Sue Willis, puts it, “Although one of our aims is to bring joy and play to families facing disadvantage, we are not just about the lovely things. We provide vital parenting support, access to free meals and mental health support. All our feedback shows that we have made, and continue to make, a tangible difference to people’s lives, supporting some of the most vulnerable families in the area, as well as bringing laughter to young faces.”
Purple Elephant relies on the ongoing kind support of volunteers, donations and sponsors. As Sue Willis tells us, “There are some words that stay with us and we hope they will encourage Frome businesses to sponsor us, perhaps make us their ‘Charity of the Year’ for 2025, as well as rally individual Frome people to continue to donate and to join us as much-valued volunteers. One statement from a family following the summer holidays stays with me particularly – ‘Thank God for you guys, this holiday has been tough, getting them both out where I can talk to other people and not be judged has made me feel human again.’ That, ultimately, is what Purple Elephant is about.”