We believe all children should have equal access to food, education and learning development, enabling them to reach their full potential and bridge the gap between children living in poverty and their wealthier friends. To achieve this, we listen to the needs of our local vulnerable families and help where necessary to get these children fed and into school with whatever they need. We focus on creating development opportunities for disadvantaged young people from local areas, we do this in a number of ways. Listening to the community
It is a fact that there are children in the UK living in poverty, this maybe where parents are unable to work due to illness, single parents, or parents that both work but are still unable to ‘make ends meet’. We listen to these families with no judgement and help where we can to make these children feel they can go to school and not feel different. This may mean helping with school supplies like uniform, shoes or school club outfits. We supply educational toys for toddlers to get ready for their school years. Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic we have been contacted by many families who have needed help and support in the way of food and supplies for their children, with the help of our partnership with Fareshare, private sponsorship and our loyal volunteers we have been giving food and basic supplies weekly to children and families in Essex. Young Volunteers Group
On a weekly basis, The Little Edi Foundation youth group work on a variety of activities that enable the fulfilment of our larger projects like our children’s summer scheme for 4-11 year olds or our weekly after school club again for Primary aged children. Their volunteering enables a 1-1 Buddy scheme at summer scheme where they assist the younger children and similarly at Wednesdays after school club where many children have additional needs. Every holiday the youth team volunteer their time for the parents coffee morning setting up, serving refreshments and preparing bags of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as helping with activities for the younger children. The Youth Forum
Once a month, our Youth Forum meet to discuss new projects and/or fundraising ideas and manage them with autonomy. The Youth Forum was established by a group of volunteers from our UK Youth group who wanted to do more within the Foundation For example, the Youth Forum have successfully run a variety of fundraising events from quizzes to football matches. Recently, they have started working on a new initiative- partnering with local food banks. As The Little Edi Foundation receives a large amount of donations in clothes, toiletries and stationery supplies, the Youth Forum thought it would be a good idea to begin a based project where these items are delivered to families.
