Celebrating 15 years of empowering children, young people and their families
This September marks a special landmark as we turn 15 years old since being founded by our CEO and Clinical Director, Sue Bell OBE, in 2007.
Since then, Kids Inspire has empowered children, young people, and their families through trauma-informed therapeutic practice.
We have accomplished so much throughout the last 15 years, helping tens of thousands of children, young people and their families along the way. To help celebrate, here, we take a look back at some of our highlights and key milestones throughout the last 15 years.
The main purpose of Kids Inspire being founded was to fill gaps in mental health provision for children and young people in Chelmsford. However, fast-forward 15 years, and we are now helping young people and their families across Essex, including new initiatives and schemes outside of therapy such as mentoring, training and community outreach.
How Kids Inspire became a place of opportunity, love and care for children and young people
In 2007 it became clear to the Kids Inspire founder Sue that there was nowhere for children who were victims of distress, abuse or neglect to turn to for support. She founded the charity because of the gap in professional services available for children and young people's mental health. By building a team of friends, colleagues and volunteers around her, she quickly learned that offering family-inclusive support is often essential for the child at the centre's most sustainable outcome.
After working in schools as a Drama teacher and then as a qualified counsellor across behavioural support in schools, Sue opened Kids Inspire 15 years ago this month, and for the first two years worked unpaid to prove how these children could be helped. In collaboration with a consortium of local schools, in the first year alone, we received over 250 referrals. However, the work didn't stop there, with Sue working tirelessly fundraising and securing grants, all alongside seeing her clients.
Early in the foundation of Kids Inspire, Sue identified the importance of family inclusive treatment, which meant families often received therapy alongside the child to support long-term sustainable outcomes. To this day, the aim for Kids Inspire has never changed, with our goal always being to meet the child's needs at the centre of each case so the child can thrive once completing a bespoke treatment plan.
Tip of the iceberg - what have we achieved in the last 15 years?
New and Innovative Therapies
Our 60-strong therapeutic team is proud to provide specialised interventions to thousands of disadvantaged or traumatised children and their families across Essex each year. With the demand for our services and referrals increasing every month, we continue to work hard to develop innovative, holistic specialist services and projects.
Our team is always learning, regularly taking time to train and skill share. Currently, we are supporting, on average, 3500 children, young people and their families each year using a broad range of therapeutic methods. Our standard psychodynamic approaches look into how our past experiences, our early life and how we were parented, can impact our life at present - in conscious or unconscious ways. Over the years, we have introduced new Creative Therapies practices such as music, dance and art therapy, run by skilled and trained professional therapists.
“We look and listen to how a child’s past affects their present, noting any negative childhood experience to make our practice trauma-informed.”
Outside of our individual therapeutic services, we have strived to create, organise and run successful group therapy projects such as CREW, a family-centred approach, and Make My Own Music, an interactive musical group session to encourage play and social skills. Building resilience is an important aspect of the work we do here at Kids Inspire, and our Balance Me group project helps promote physical and mental well-being skills for life. With the core aim to empower young attendees when they find themselves in anxious situations.
Mentoring & Volunteer Schemes
A constant since Kids Inspire was founded in 2007 has been the importance of our volunteer community. Our mentors and volunteers are the backbones of the charity, supporting our community engagement programmes and providing us with much-needed practical support when required most.
Our mentoring scheme offers the young mentee a safe place to discuss any issues and supports them to access new experiences, explore interests and develop new life skills. The mentor and mentee relationship is an opportunity for the mentee to improve their self-confidence, resilience and emotional wellbeing. All our volunteer mentors are dedicated, trained by our in-house team and take a child-centred approach to their work.
We currently have an amazing 65 active mentors working with our young people and meeting regularly, including 15 peer mentors who work directly with those of similar age at a peer level.
“Because of the mentoring I've received, I feel like I have changed as a person. This has brought out a new side to me, someone who is confident, optimistic and positive. It's changed my mindset, so now I can always see the brighter side of things and I know not to think so negatively. It has made me realise how lucky I am to be able to receive the help I needed.”
Growing and out-growing our home!
Not only have we grown in what services, therapies and support we have offered over the last 15 years, but we have also grown physically in terms of staff, space and capacity. From the humble beginning of a small cupboard office in St Peters school, we have moved buildings twice since being founded. First, moving to Thiftwood School and, more recently, in 2018, to our current home at Hargrave House. Here we have built a warm, safe and caring environment for all our community and service users with the help of our staff and dedicated volunteers.
As we continue to grow, we are more excited than ever for our next office move to a new purpose-built location next door to Hargrave House, which will take place sometime between 2023/24.
Awards, accolades and adventures
Our work has not gone unnoticed over the last fifteen years, with many awards and accolades received by the charity and our CEO and Clinical Director, Sue Bell. To top it all off, last year, Sue was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her work and sheer determination to support children and young people through trauma-informed therapy.
On top of celebrating our successes, our extraordinary fundraising challenges have taken us all over Europe. Our incredible bike rides have conquered Paris and Amsterdam over the years, raising thousands of pounds towards supporting children and young people, whilst our Christmas Appeals have got bigger and better each year. We have also seen our amazing supporters take part in some of the most difficult challenges and adventures to raise much-needed funds for Kids Inspire. We truly thank you!
It's not just the charity and staff who have received awards over the years. As recently as two years ago, two of our committed volunteers visited Chelmsford Cathedral for the final celebration of their well-earned QAVS award. Recognising their dedicated and continued support working as volunteers for the charity.
Here are just a few of our awards and accolades received over the years:
Community Award at the Essex Business Excellence Awards
Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
Public Nominations for an Outstanding Mental Health Professional
Chelmsford Star Co-operative chosen charity 2016/17
Winners of the 2012 Essex Business Awards
Above all the key events, milestones and awards, there is only one thing that truly matters about the charity's success across the last fifteen years: the feedback we receive from our children, young people and their families. Whether that be a particular therapist or group event, or a mentor relationship that has become life-lasting, these are the reasons we get out of bed in the morning and make our work so special.
2020 and beyond - moving therapy online & the impact of Covid-19
The last few years have seen a monumental shift in how we communicate, deliver and support our service users, mainly thanks to the effects of Covid-19. Despite the nation and world coming to a pause, people's mental health needs were more significant than ever, so we had to act quickly and compassionately to ensure we could still provide the right level of support to everyone who required it.
We launched our Talk Together campaign as therapy shifted online throughout lockdown and is to remain as part of a hybrid approach to service delivery. This means we can connect with people in the comfort of their homes or even in other regions and locations outside Essex. Our online Mentoring service also evolved and grew with us, continuing online and offering our mentees access to mentors at the touch of a button if needed.
We adapted and created online Lunch Clubs thanks to the work of our tremendous volunteers, who helped deliver hundreds of lunches to children throughout the summer.
Despite the pandemic, we were still offering our usual services, so fundraising was needed now more than ever. Thanks to the fantastic work of our supporters, corporate partners, fundraisers and community teams, we created new and exciting Virtual Fundraising challenges throughout the pandemic, such as online quizzes and virtual bike rides/runs.
We still promote, work and collaborate across new and improved practices that were implemented during the recent pandemic, offering our children, young people and their families more flexibility, access and support than ever before!
Warm wishes from just a few of our community & supporters
Now it’s over to you! Some of our staff, trustees, volunteers and members of our The Voice forum wanted to offer their kinds words and warm wishes to help celebrate the charity turning 15 years of age below!
Sue King, one of our longest supporters has these lovely words and memories about Kids Inspire when it was first founded.
“I have been fortunate to have been involved with Kids Inspire since its inception. Firstly, receiving help from Sue at the very beginning. As a parent I knew how important this service could be. My earliest memories are of Sue’s first office/therapy room a few floors up in a deserted old school building. A quiet start to the success that Kids Inspire has become.
My favourite memories are of the early Christmas wrapping days when we spent many a happy hour in the dilapidated demountable buildings matching presents to children, listening to Christmas songs and eating mince pies. Despite the surroundings there was always a feeling of hope and positivity and belief in the need for the services KI offered then. Of course, it has flourished and grown but it is a sign of an inspirational organisation that so many people there at the beginning are still involved 15 years later. Happy Birthday KI and hoping you are present for as long as children need you.”
Shirley Glossop, our Counsellor and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner remembers the very early days when Kids Inspire was simply just a dream and concept of Sue’s.
“I first met Sue when we worked at the same school. Our children also went to the same primary school so we would sometimes have a chat as we were waiting during pick-up. I can remember her speaking about her concern for the young people whose mental health needs were not being met by local services. She was determined to put something in place to provide a therapeutic space for these individuals to improve their, and their family's, mental wellbeing and to give them opportunities and possibilities for the future.
When I started my counselling training, and having been inspired by Sue in our previous chats, I offered my services as a volunteer mentor which was accepted and this became the start of my journey with Kids Inspire. My next role was admin and was based in South Essex where I saw the amazing difference the support made to children and families there. Over 11 years with Kids Inspire and my location has changed to Head Office and I have also moved over to the Clinical Team where I remain to this day. During my time with Kids Inspire, the focus has always been fixed on the child at the centre but also engaging with parents to ensure a positive outcome with increased mental wellbeing for both the child and their parents.”
Josh Musk, one of our youngest volunteers and member of our community youth group ‘The Voice’, told us how much Kids Inspire has meant to him over the years.
“Over the last few years, Kids inspire have help me get out the house more and meet new people. I have been able to try lots of new things thanks to the charity, such as day trips, fundraising challenges and networking events. My favourite memory has got to be the silent disco we held very recently at the Chelmsford Street, Eats n Beats festival. Happy Birthday Kids Inspire!”
Dick Madden has been involved with Kids Inspire for over 12 years after meeting Sue at a voluntary sector event in 2010. He soon after became Essex County Council's Cabinet member for Children and Families. He has long been a supporter of Kids Inspire and the work we do across Essex. He shared this brilliant video message about his thoughts on our work and to wish us a Happy Birthday!
Simon Carpenter, our Chair of Board of Trustees, worked with Sue in the very beginning to help set up a safe space for young people to gain mental health support within St Peter’s College. He kindly shares his birthday wishes with us.
Last, and by no means least, our founder and Clinical Director, Sue Bell OBE, had these words to say:
“Reflecting on the last 15 years, I realise that my core emotion is one of gratitude.
Firstly, to all the thousands of children, adolescents and families who have trusted the Kids Inspire team to support and empower them. We exist for the children who struggle with emerging mental health problems, who have experienced trauma and who need support in order that they may move forward in life. It is their bravery in overcoming challenges to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives that is the true inspiration and gives meaning to all that we do.
To the communities, schools, local authorities, statutory and non-statutory partners who have welcomed us, promoted our services and acted as advocates for the individuals who need them most.
And of course to each and every one of you for everything you do. Whatever your role (employee, volunteer, supporter, funder, ambassador…) and however long you have been part of Kids Inspire, you make a difference to the lives and futures of the children, young people and families we support.
We have grown and achieved so much in 15 years. Our aim now is to continue growing to reach more of the children and young people who need our help. So here’s to our next 15 years: with your help and support, I have no doubt they will be as remarkable as the first.”
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow” (Melodie Beattie)
Thank you to everyone who has played a part in our 15 year story. Whether you have donated, volunteered, engaged on social media, or worked with us, you have helped to give vulnerable young people in Essex and beyond, the opportunity to live a complete and fulfilling life.
Kids Inspire x