Fred Foundation

We have passed our year end and successfully supported our first child through their own first year at a specialist school.

As of the June  we have received  £34,000.

The Trustees are busy thinking of new ways to advertise and support the work of The Fred Foundation. Increasingly we are making presentations to companies and interested groups about the charity. I thought you might  like to see what we have coming up and the sorts of projects we have in mind.

We have just finished registering with Justgiving, Everyclick and CAF  on line donor sites. See:

www.justgiving.com/fredfoundation/supportus
www.charitiestrust.org/charities/thefredfoundation/index.html

If you are going to arrange a fundraising event on our behalf these may be of benefit to you. The Justgiving staff are particularly helpful and can set up a dedicated site for you to raise money for a specific event.

Forthcoming events include – A series of lunches to introduce the charity. These are mainly advertising events, but various items will be available to raffle. We have just held two lunches and raised £1200. Local people have offered to hold lunches for us to raise awareness but also as fundraisers. I have also been asked to speak about the charity at some lunches.

2nd July – Andrew Brown from Universal has very kindly supplied The Fred Foundation with the film Mamma Mia for a private showing! Pearl and Dean, the cinema advertising company, have offered us a private cinema to show the film before its general release. MediaVest are making the evening even more special by providing drinks and Ben Reynolds is kindly providing canapés. The film is being touted as this year’s summer smash!  You should have already received an email about this event. If not, please contact Felicity on hello@thefredfoundation.org

November – exact date to be confirmed. A performance of Carnival of the Animals at St Luke’s Church, Clapham. Jocelyn Abbott of the piano duo Abbott and O’Gorman, has offered their services free. This will be a ‘childrens’ concert with a celebrity narrator. We have a number in mind who are local and known to the trustees.

Other Fundraising ideas.

* Two south London private schools, local to us, each support a charity every year. Both are being canvassed at the moment.
*Various supporters running the Marathon
*A West End sandwich shop, Reynolds, 34 Eastcastle Street, W1 has adopted us as their charity of choice. They even have a sandwich which when purchased triggers a donation to The Fred Foundation each time it is bought. Please help them to help us by going to visit them if you are in the area.
*A comedy night will be held some time in the Autumn at Jongleurs in Battersea. A top line up is promised and is guaranteed to be a great night out.
* Carol singing by a local choir

The picture looks rosy, but we are keen to maintain the momentum as unforeseen circumstances often throw a spanner in the works!

Meanwhile, Fred is continuing his progress. He is going through a difficult stage at the moment both for him and the family. He is obsessed with tidiness (in his eyes) and tipping things out of bottles, cups etc. Duff and Lucinda often come downstairs in the morning to a kitchen floor covered in mess. He also gets very distressed when certain things are not in exactly the same place, and is constantly up and down moving them very slightly. It is exhausting for him, but he cannot help himself. We think the tipping out of liquids may also be to do with the tidy mania.

Coming into a kitchen covered in liquids of various sorts is not what you need after a busy day, especially as when you are cleaning up Fred is busy tipping them out again behind your back. He knows it is wrong to do it and you can see that he expects to be told off. But, you can also see that he cannot stop himself, and everyone gets very upset!

Interestingly, the experts did think that this stage is encouraging in a developmental way (although it has now so taken over his life that it is detrimental). He is becoming more aware of his environment and wanting things to be his way. We hope all developmental improvements will not be so wearing. At the moment, the family are consulting the school, a Clinical Psychologist and a Psychotherapist to see how they can help.

A long newsletter this time. We hope you can help us in some of the projects we are undertaking and think of some new ways to help us.

Onwards and upwards!