Hello to our many friends. Our beneficiaries, our referrers working at carers support organisations, hospices and GPs and our supporters. Every carer. We wish you Happy Easter.
Firstly, our thoughts are with anyone suffering as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is a worrying time, especially for those caring for loved ones with life limiting conditions.
We’ve been in touch from time to time since Covid-19 restrictions were imposed. We are doing our best not to flood your inbox but to reassure you we are doing everything we can to protect our charity, our team and Kingham Cottage so we will be here for you when lockdown restrictions are eased.
Kingham Cottage is closed for the time being
Like all holiday cottages, Kingham Cottage is closed for both carers and paying guests. That said, it doesn’t need to be for key workers to help them sustain their work. So, we are pleased to announce our cottage is available to all key workers at Dorothy House Hospice Care, Bradford on Avon. Of course, in the spirit of After Umbrage, it is free of charge.
We have chosen this hospice for practical and sentimental reasons. Practical, because of the close location to the hospice and sentimental, as Dorothy House Hospice was one of the first carer support organisations we connected with in our early years. We look forward to Kingham Cottage being a safe haven for members of their staff working tirelessly for their residents.
Easter Greetings
Our trustees, their children, our team and their families send you our Easter Greetings. We are keeping active and busy. Working from home, home schooling and keeping safe are our priority now. And as it’s Easter, we are doing a spot of seasonal baking too.
Proud of Key Workers
We join the national praise of all our key workers and love the #ClapForOurCarers campaign. Everyone down our streets has been demonstrating their gratitude in this simple, wonderful way. We find it emotional joining in. Do you?
Our team has engaged in the Chase the Rainbow campaign to bring hope amid the uncertain times we currently live in. Children are enjoying spotting these creative contributions on their daily exercise from their homes.
Our team are safe and well
After Umbrage is focusing on getting through this national crisis and being around to help carers when life returns to normal, what ever that new normal looks like. We feel our services will be in great need at that time. There have been encouraging messages form The National Lottery Community Fund and Virgin Money offering to be supportive. It’s reassuring and comforting to hear from these fundraising organisations.
We are active in the digital space and the main social media channels that those who support us have engaged with too. We love hearing from you whenever you have a moment. The aim of our work here is to reach more cares. Every like and share make a difference. It’s how small organisations like After Umbrage gain traction and grow. It’s how we justify funding too as our community of referrers and beneficiaries expands.
New website is coming soon
Behind the scenes we are developing a new website. This is because, our current one has been our online story since 2013 and we felt it needed an update. Technology has advanced enormously in the past seven years and we realise we need to keep abreast of these improvements. We are excited about the re-launch and will let you know when we are live in due course.
New website is coming soon
And don’t forget our private chat room. We now have 28 members and welcome you all to join us. Ask us your questions, share your reflections at this uncertain time, and let us know how you are getting on.
If you’d like to tell your story on our website we are always keen to hear from you. Our funders love your stories and it’s our way of giving carers a louder voice. Each of our beneficiaries show resilience, compassion and kindness that never fail to inspire us. It is THE key driver in our work and we want volunteers to come forward. Those whose stories we’ve told will tell you, we make the process as easy as possible and many say it’s a cathartic experience.
We sign off wishing you a peaceful Easter. Keep safe.