For most children in the UK it has been a tough couple of years. From being free in the playgrounds, attending schools every weekday and expressing themselves to having all of that taken away from them is heart breaking. The world that they knew had suddenly disappeared due to the pandemic, some of these children were too young to know the full extent of why they needed to be isolated from civilisation. On the 20th March 2020 UK schools closed their gates as the government believed students were not safe and were more likely to pass on COVID-19 to their classmates at school. Approximately 700 million days of education were lost in 2020, that figure really justifies how severe the situation is for these children and everyone involved in their schooling life.
The question is how are these children going to get all the days back that have been wasted? Yes, of course there have been home schooling implemented in many households whilst it’s been deemed unsafe for the children to be at school. It was proven that almost 60% of parents of primary school and nearly half of parents with secondary school children have admitted to finding it very hard to support their children learning from home, whilst weighing up their workload and other commitments they may have. However, we all understand it’s the best we have out of a bad situation.
The data collected was based on 4559 school students
Source: Children’s commission
This year we’ve made it our mission to make a difference in the community. Our team have had their say on which charities and causes they want to support. We as a company understand the frustrations in which families and particularly students were going through during lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. Schools were shut for several months and precious time was wasted where children could have been learning the many different aspects of school life.
The data collected was based on 4559 school students
Source: Children’s commission
In August we wanted to make a change to students less fortunate by going to a local supermarket and purchasing school equipment and uniform. These items went to a charity called Pelican Parcels that specialise in helping children in the community by supplying free non-branded school uniforms, black school shoes and PE trainer. These items went to parents who needed support with children attending City Academy Whitehawk, St Mark’s CE, Hertford infant & Juniors and Queen’s Park Primary. Their vision is a community in which families and carers all have the essentials for their children.
We provided school equipment and uniform to local students allowing them to be ready for school when they reopened again after the months of isolation. This helped parents of the children who may not have been able to afford the school essentials. It gave us great satisfaction knowing that we were able to help some families by providing them with school equipment that would assist them with everyday life at school. We know there are many other students that are disadvantaged. That’s why it’s our aim to help as many children in difficult situations as possible in the future.
To learn more about the great work Pelican Parcels do and to donate if you wish to click here.
This have given us even more motivation to help the community in any way we can. In November 2021 we donated £1 for every invoice paid, the proceedings went to Fresh Start, a charity based in Brighton for their Christmas Cheer campaign which provides Hampers and Christmas meals for families that are less fortunate this festive period.
