Our 25th anniversary celebrations!
25 years ago, the Honeypot Children’s Charity embarked on its journey to support young carers across the UK.
Our track record spans back 25 years, but our mission remains the same: We want to give every child the opportunity to make the most of their one chance at childhood.
In 1996, our journey began with the provision of Respite Breaks for disadvantaged children at a beautiful countryside house in the New Forest. This philanthropic gift was kindly donated by the Nelson Trust and since then, this seven-acre estate has housed thousands of wonderful childhood memories. Supported by the local community and hundreds of generous sponsors and donors, we redecorated the house, built a swimming pool, an art studio, and an adventure playground, and turned it into a place where children can create memories they’ll cherish for a lifetime.
Fast forward 25 years and our services have grown monumentally.
We opened a second house in Mid-Wales in 2016, launched a comprehensive outreach programme including daytrips, and started accredited learning breaks in collaboration with local schools . In 2020, we launched our Wrap-Round service, a range of digital and face-to-face services, which allow us to increase our beneficiary capacity, and support young carers even remotely.
In fact, we are the only charity in the UK that consistently supports young carers aged 5 to12 completely independent from Government funding.
We know that our work makes a difference to the children and families we support, and we are proud of the amazing referral network we’ve established over the last 25 years. It’s our collaboration with local authorities, schools, GPs and youth centres across the country that enables us to reach the children with the greatest needs, and support them according to their individual situation at home. We think you will agree this is an achievement worth celebrating!
Throughout the year, we are always planning and involved with a series of events and would be delighted to include you in our celebrations.
25th Anniversary Party
25 faces of Honeypot
To celebrate the end of our year of celebrations we held a party at the Sheraton in Park Lane, lots of supporters past and present attended with a grand total fundraised. Read more via the button below.
None of this would be possible without the generosity of thousands of supporters across the UK, and beyond. It’s their belief in our work that enables us to keep going and growing. They didn’t only get us through lockdown, but ensured that we start our 25th anniversary year with big plans and ambitions for the future, and we are incredibly grateful for that.
We’ve dedicated a page to some of our most loyal supporters, from community fundraisers to corporates partners, referrers and trust representatives to volunteers and trustees.
If you would like to find out more about our work and how to support us (or indeed be listed on this page for our next anniversary!), please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.
OUR HISTORY
Our past
Take a look at all of the historical landmarks that have made Honeypot what it is today.
Our present
The need for our services is greater than ever. In 2020, we launched a new Wrap-Round service for young carers, which allows us to increase our beneficiaries capacity and support children according to their individual needs and unique situation at home.
Currently we are able to offer up to 2,500 places a year, completely free for every child we support.
Our provisions have been designed to tackle the complex needs of young carers: reducing stress and anxiety, alleviating social isolation, and building their confidence to succeed in education and follow their dreams. With our Wellbeing Fund we support children from financially disadvantaged families with life essential items such as a a new washing machine, a new desk, or tuition classes to catch-up with school.
Read here how our Team Leader Kirsty talks about her experience engaging with young carers during lockdown, and how she sees our digital offering as an invaluable addition to residential breaks and our outreach work in the future.
Our future
We have exciting prospects on the horizon!
A new Honeypot House, paired with a range of new services, is on its way!
We are also planning to further expand our digital service provision and offer a fully integrated support programme to young carers across the country. We support and commission leading research, and anticipate to further expand our referral network and significantly increase our beneficiaries capacity across the UK.
“When I was younger, I was shy to make new friends, so I just stayed alone. Honeypot has made me more confident in making new friends. I hope that Honeypot can still make children like me happy and give other children the courage and happiness that they really do need. I hope Honeypot stays alive. ”
