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This canvas is titled "Charity is Compassion in Action" and has been made by Efrosyni Hobbs using charity badges including Variety’s Gold Heart pin.
Efrosyni began work on it in 2016 and it has taken this long to complete as she is not in good health. She said that the project had kept her going!
“It certainly lifts my spirits and I have learnt a lot about the various charities whose pin badges I have used”, she said.
A huge congratulations to the winners!! Remember to purchase your tickets for the next draw in February from the Variety Office! You can email us at admin@varietyjersey.org.je or call us on (01534) 856937 for more information.
December was an average month as far as requests for food, uniforms, shoes and baby things are concerned. We also bought a two cots and mattresses for low income single parents at the request of their Health Visitors. The total amount spent on these requests was £1,269.50.
Over and above this we bought a car which was greatly reduced, thanks to Motor Mall, for a very low income family with triplets who were born very premature. These little ones are needing constant and regular monitoring at the paediatric clinic along with regular physiotherapy to help their mobility. Enable Jersey formerly The Jersey Disabled Society made a £2,500. donation towards the car which cost £7,000. Motor Mall also sponsored a triple buggy for this family. We are extremely grateful to Enable Jersey and to Motor Mall for their generosity.
At the request of a Health Visitor we paid for an autistic boy’s bedroom to be decorated with padded wallpaper as this young lad was hurting himself on the wall in his room. We bought a de-humidifier for a children’s room which was extremely damp.
We have also paid £5,502. 00 for an outdoor stage and benches for Bel Royal School.
Thanks to Joint Chief Barker Robyn Lapidus we held a very successful Christmas Party for 78 children and their families. All the children received Christmas gifts from Santa.
The totals for the month were 19 families with 36 children amounting to £14,916. 10 and the totals for the first three months of this financial year is 62 families with 134 children amounting to £21,927. 61.
As we look forward to a new decade we must resolve to make and take every opportunity we can to raise further funds if we are to meet the needs of children in Jersey. On behalf of all the families we help I must thank most sincerely the Barkers, Ladies, sponsors and donors for their kindness and generosity and wish everyone a Happy and Healthy 2020.
Jeanette Pinel
Variety at Work.
Variety, the Children’s Charity of Jersey, is opening the nominations for the next Young Star of the Year Awards.
Nomination forms can be downloaded here or hard copies of the nomination forms will be available in schools around Jersey or can be collected from all Co-operative food stores and parish halls from Monday 2nd December 2019. Nominations will close on Friday 21st February 2020.
The awards celebrate courage, creativity and commitment of children and young people in Jersey, in a poignant ceremony. Islanders are invited to nominate the young people that they believe should be recognised and rewarded for their achievements. The event categories include:
Courage
Community
Carer
Sports
Arts
Academia
A special gala event will be held for the shortlisted youngsters. The ceremony will share the inspirational stories of the young stars, with the overall Young Star of the Year being awarded an incredible £5,000 worth of travel vouchers to contribute to a family holiday of their choice. Winners of each category will also receive £500 worth of vouchers, and the runners up will take home £100 worth of vouchers. Every shortlisted youngster takes home a prize.
Sandra Auckland, Chairman of the Young Star event, says:
‘I am really excited that the nominations are opening for the 2020 Young Star of the Year Awards. These awards provide the perfect opportunity to recognise the many deserving youngsters in Jersey and I hope that many people will feel encouraged to put forward their nominations. This is an important chance to recognise Jersey’s diverse and vibrant young community.’
The Variety Young Star of the Year Awards is proudly sponsored by The Channel Islands Co-Operative Society.
Congratulations to Cerys Saunders!
After winning the Young Star of Courage in the 11-12 year category, Cerys Saunders was crowned the overall winner and credited for her amazing story. From birth Cerys has been a fighter with many trips to hospital both here in Jersey and Southampton. Her condition is two-fold, first Cardiomyopathy and Severe Pulmonary and Aortic Stenosis, otherwise she was clinically well and showed no physical characteristics of being unwell, even to this day this is still true. She was on medication to help reduce the fluid around her heart and the rest of her body. Over the years her condition has been carefully watched and to determine when it would be best to intervene and perform open heart surgery. In February/March last year specialists decided that it would be the right time for Cerys to undergo major open heart surgery. Cerys was 10 years old at the time and no one knew what the outcome would be and what this meant for her in the future.
The operation took 6 hours as a result of Cerys needing blood transfusions and extra treatment. She was kept heavily sedated to stop her from moving. Cerys drew on her resilience and inner strength, she even stopped pain relief after a couple of days, this was a surprise to the doctors. She was expected to be in Southampton for 2 weeks but her recovery was so rapid that she was ready to fly home after 7 days. She was off school for 8 weeks.
It is not really known what the long term means for Cerys but in the short and medium term, it looks bright and positive. Her resilience, toughness determination, bravery and her natural ability to just get on with things will help see her through any challenges that come her way. The Courage that she has shown has made her a very worthy winner of Variety’s Young Star of the Year, 2019.
The judging panel this year consisted of Lady Dalton, John Testori from Bambola Toymaster and Malcolm Lewis, Chairman of Longueville Manor. Alongside Cerys, 23 other youngsters were recognised throughout the event, including the ‘Young Star of Courage Age 6-10’ and ‘Young Star of Courage Age 11-12’, the Courage Category was split into 2 age groups this year, as there were 8 very strong nominations. Then we had the other categories, ‘Community’, ‘Carer’, ‘Sports’ and ‘Arts and Academia’. Winners of each category were awarded £500 worth of CI Co-operative vouchers, a trophy and certificate while all the finalists were awarded £100 worth of vouchers, medals and certificates.
