This week we have been shining a light on our chosen charity The Ellie Soutter Foundation (ESF).
The ESF supports talented young winter sports athletes through funding initiatives, mental health awareness and coaching through professional competitions.
It is always important to reflect and six months on, now is a good time to consider how fundraising has helped the charity. The MM Search ESF gala dinner raised a phenomenal ￡16,000 in November 2019, a huge and very humbling amount for a young charity.
The impact the funds raised last year have boosted the charity exponentially. The ESF has been able to announce grant funding to another young hopeful, supporting four young winter sports athletes in total. The charity has also recently launched the Ellie Safe House – a community led project in Les Gets, France for local children in the ski resort that Ellie lived and trained. The Ellie Safe House will provide support for children that are struggling with anxiety and bullying, mental health awareness and social media.
However, we are all acutely aware that the impact of COVID-19 has rippled through every industry and organisation and charities are no exception. Supporting charities in any way we can right now is more important than ever. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that a minimum of ￡4.3bn in income has been lost because of the current pandemic and with fundraising income wiped out many charities are struggling to raise funds. The ESF is however continuing to work hard to look at ways to boost funds during this challenging time with its grand online fundraiser https://theelliesoutter.foundation/grand-online-fundraiser/ .
Our aim is to host another Ellie Soutter Foundation Gala dinner in November 2020 – hopefully with a live in-person event but if social distancing restrictions are still in place, we will do this virtually in the best way we can.
The foundation is even more poignant to me as I was privileged to know Ellie because her Dad, Tony Soutter, is my wife's cousin. Ellie was such a special girl and we look forward to continuing to support the charity in every way we can to help these young adults blossom.