A message from our CEO

‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is a song by Queen that I started to use to inspire others, when I shared the story of my eldest son Joe living a life that was designed in a way that made sense to him.

This was a strong message to the ‘powers that be’ that basically said that we need to continue doing the things that really matter to people and we need to trust the instincts of individuals to do what they believe is right for them.

We built the My Life charity on the same premise and over the last few months we have continued to trust and believe that individuals and families will do what is right for them. People have had to make huge sacrifices to enable their loved ones to remain safe and we have supported a wide range of people in many different flexible ways, such as:

• Delivering over 700 hampers to people in the community
• Picking up and delivering prescriptions
• Sewing 1000 gowns for PPE for Wigan hospital
• Supporting people in their own homes during the period of social isolation to keep them healthy, safe and well
• Working with commissioners to support new people, who otherwise would be struggling
• Keeping in touch with everyone including staff, members, students, families and the wider community through e-newsletters, Zoom chats, virtual meetings, telephone calls and distance deliveries
• Planting out all of our greenhouses, flowerbeds and raised beds so we have a flourishing site for when everyone returns
• Taking delivery of four new buildings and improving the Standish site
• Getting all of our accessible bicycles repaired and on the road
• Moving 80 tonnes of road planings to make the site more accessible
• Exercising our animals, preparing them for the summer and adding to the stock
• Delivering over 650 hanging baskets and bedding plants
• Generally ensuring all of our sites are fully cleansed and resourced ready for everyone to return

The work has been done by some amazing volunteers who have worked so hard in all weathers to keep the charity going. Our staff teams out in the community have equally done an amazing job to keep people safe.

We have developed a recovery plan that explains what we are intending to do over the next few weeks, and we will need to all work together and learn what works and what doesn’t as we go along.

We already have seen an increase in people wanting to at least get back to some kind of normality and we are supporting each person in a way that makes sense to them. We are determined more than ever to keep going and be on hand to help you when you need us to.

Thank you all for your continued support,

Caroline