Supporting Sunflowers after minibus theft
It's August 2024. We have replaced our first minibus and Olympian fundraising effort continues for our second vehicle. On Wednesday 7 August we have a marathon event in which children and dogs, supported by their grown-ups, are combining to walk a very long way. Will a couple of metres walked by babes and toddlers plus km's walked by our older children, dogs and grown-ups reach an ultramarathon distance of 75km? Children, dogs and adults are all being sponsored to take part and we are immensely grateful to you all. Thank you x
----------------------------------------------
Two minibuses stolen in 7 months The theft and destruction of our second minibus on Easter Monday 2024 knocked us sideways. Knocked sideways … but not down! We have been buoyed by many kind messages and offers of help which have combined to create a great big hug around us. Onwards and upwards Our fundraising pot is started with insurance monies of £18,500. This is close to one third of what we estimate is needed to get 2 vehicles back on the road and further improve security so we have significant fundraising to do. Activity is underway to explore funding, grants, sponsors and plan events and if you can make a donation we would be very grateful for your support.
News links
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-04-03/two-minibuses-stolen-from-nursery-and-set-alight-in-seven-months
https://marlborough.news/news/lightning-does-strike-twice-certainly-in-the-case-of-sunflowers-at-grafton-and-minibuses/
THE FULL STORY ...
This GoFundMe page was set up in September 2023 following the theft of our 15-seat minibus. We are hugely grateful for the support we received which funded security improvements in our grounds - installation of cctv and robust new gates and reducing the front hedge height - and security on the vehicles themselves.
Despite these security measures our 12-seat minibus was stolen on Easter Monday and reported on fire early the following morning. Devastating.
Read on to see how our story started last year …
Sunflowers is a nonprofit, charity registered nursery that runs in the heart of the community to provide nursery care for 0-5 Years, alongside Primary school wrap-around care and holiday Clubs We currently work with 150+ families and are focused on supporting our children, and their families and our amazing team.
At 7.30 am on Wednesday 6 September, we learnt the dreadful news that one of our minibuses had been stolen. By midday, we had confirmation that dear old WJ62 – our 14-seat Ford Transit bus – had been found burnt out and minus her engine.
The Minibuses are an essential part of providing the wider community with essential childcare options, The Sunflowers Team have worked remarkably hard to ensure this unsettling experience has not impacted the families they work with however we need your support to ensure the impact on the nursery, community and all our families remains minimal.
Many of you within the community have reached out and offered support and suggested creating a fundraising page and therefore our Trustees have set up a GoFundMe page to support us in our time of need.
This fundraising is all about strengthening our security and making it as difficult as possible for something like this to happen again, specifically:
- Taking steps to secure our grounds – including new gates and lowering the hedge height around our car park
- Vehicle security
We do not have money for this in our budget and we would be grateful for your support. Can you help?
If we raise more than needed to make our security improvements you can be confident that the money will be well spent in other ways to make Sunflowers even more amazing.
Of course we are also working on options to replace WJ62 in order to maintain service levels to families that depend on our Breakfast & and after-school clubs. WJ62 was a leased bus and we have all the relevant insurance in place to ensure that the lease agreement is settled. Getting a replacement vehicle on the road quickly is going to be a challenge but we are on the case (and to be clear – funding a new vehicle is not part of this fundraising).
The Sunflowers trustees want to thank our remarkable Sunflowers Team for their response to this unsettling event , please do get in touch if you feel you can support or make a donation to the page.
Organizer
Sue England
Organizer
Sunflowers at Grafton
Beneficiary