Kickstart TYA cancer support

14/11/2024

Tonight at 6.30pm 😃 lots of lovely local stalls. Bring some cash as we have a great raffle!

28/11/2023

Another HUGE thank you! This time to our favourite Karate club, Shinken Dojo Karate Academy, for donating £97.96 at their Halloween training night, and for another £100 to add to Shinken’s total from Michelle at the Royal Mail from a breakfast morning .
Thank you so much 😊

24/11/2023

Thank you to all the amazing stall holders and shoppers at Cottingham Parks Golf and Leisure Club last night!

Thank you so much to everyone who came and made a very busy evening! We hope you enjoyed it...see you next year!

22/11/2023

Almost ready to Kickstart Christmas!

19/11/2023

I don’t normally posts things like this, but today I feel I need to…

This is Emily.

13 years ago today, at the age of 19, Emily lost her fight with leukaemia.

13 years sounds a long time, but it feels like yesterday, and each year it gets harder, not easier.

Emily is the reason we set up Kickstart, as we wanted to help other young people like her, after seeing the impact cancer had on the last 14 months of her life. (She’s also the reason we have a ⭐️ in our name).

As Emily’s mum, Kickstart matters to me. It is a way of feeling that some little good can come from such a bad thing, and I know that every single penny we raise goes to help young people like Emily.

We are a small charity, as we don’t want to get so big that we have to spend the money people donate on wages, or publicity, or anything other than it going to support young people with cancer.

Since Covid we have struggled, like many small charities, as we had a surge in applications for support, and no money coming in. Everyone has been stretched financially, and we know that people and businesses have had to tighten their belts.

Thankfully, our overheads are almost non-existant, (as we pay for almost everything we need to operate out of out trustees own pockets), but this last year we have had to close our Justgiving account as the £18 per month cost outweighed the money that came in. We haven’t renewed the licence for our website (which I pay for myself) as we thought we would have had to close our little charity and I couldn’t afford the expense if it wasn’t needed.

But in the last couple of months we have had a glimmer of hope, with support from local businesses and people, offering to support our local charity with donations and fundraising.

We have lots of people coming to the Cottingham Parks Kickstart Christmas market on Thursday, and that show of support and every raffle ticket bought raises money for us.

This matters. It matters to me, but more importantly, it matters to young people like Emily who are going through a completely s**t time, and just need a little helping hand as it allows us to keep going.

I want Kickstart to continue to be here for those that need us, and today, with lots of thoughts and memories going through my head, it really matters to me more than ever.

Small amounts to large charities are big amounts to us, so thank you to everyone who keeps our little star shining ⭐️

17/11/2023

02/11/2023

We Kickstart Christmas in just 3 weeks! Lots of lovely gift sellers to introduce you to…can’t wait!

30/10/2023

We have really seen a drop in our funds over the last few years, rendering us unable to support as many young people with cancer, so when we get support from local small businesses like this it makes a HUGE difference to our little charity.
Thank you to H Kemp & Son Ltd for thinking of us, and congratulations on 130 years!

08/03/2021

On International Women’s Day we have been thinking about all the amazing women who inspire us, and none more so than those living with, or after cancer.
Emily is the reason behind Kickstart, and her quiet strength and determination still inspire us every day, even though she is no longer with us.
To every woman who is facing their own challenge, aiming to reach their ambitions and make the world a better place, stay strong and don’t ever give up.

17/02/2021

It’s lovely when we get messages saying how our help makes a difference 😊
Although we have brilliant cancer facilities locally, sometimes patients still have to travel outside of the area for their treatment. Regular trips to hospitals in Leeds, Sheffield, London etc take their toll not only physically, but also financially (especially if it’s multiple trips in a week), so if needed we can help ease that extra burden. Young people with cancer have enough to deal with, so it’s great to help when we can 😊