NEWSLETTER • Christmas 2021
Welcome
Welcome to our Christmas newsletter! 2021 has been yet another year of challenges, but there's plenty to celebrate too. Join us as we look back on the year.
Christmas has come early for HopScotch!
Back in 2017 we had the dream to expand what we could offer children by developing a new activity centre in the grounds of Ardvullin. If you have been following that story along since 2017 you will know that it has taken years of planning, fundraising, and building works. COVID threw some additional spanners into the works as well. However, we are so happy to report that the activity centre was finally completed at the end of November 2021 – an early Christimas gift for HopScotch!
Our new activity centre was architect-designed to fit HopScotch's needs, with a child-centred focus at the heart of the project. It includes a customised mixed-ability climbing wall, sports gear including basketball, badminton, indoor football, volleyball and yoga equipment. We also have lots of lovely colourful beanbags available for children to come, relax and chat on too.
Roberta has said “We’re delighted that our fantastic purpose-built activity centre is ready to use. It will be a tremendous asset to our facility at Ardvullin. It will enable us to increase our centre-based activities for children, extend our annual programme and the age range of our participants. We are so grateful to all the supporters of this project who have made this dream a reality.”
Altogether the centre cost £273,000 to build. HopScotch is so grateful for the support of our major funders The Robertson Trust; The Edward Gostling Foundation, Walter Scott Giving Group, The Cotton Trust, Barratt Homes East Scotland, Chance to Connect and Douglas Brown. Other funds came from Persimmon Homes, Walker Family Foundation, The Mickel Fund and in memory of Agnes and Robert Strickland. The climbing wall, sports equipment and furnishings were funded by Spifox. The building work was undertaken by local business Corrigan Contractors.
The best bit is that the new activity centre was completed just in time for the last group of 2021's respite break programme to use. Children from Church House in Glasgow arrived for their holiday at the end of November, and they were very excited to be told they would be the very first children to use the centre! Graham Hyndman of Church House said: “The new Activity centre is a truly amazing space and addition to the already brilliant experience that Hopscotch offers young people. The centre ties in with the sense of adventure and fun of the whole trip by giving young people a space to climb, play games and chill among many other options the centre provides. One young person from our group was so excited when they saw the centre that they felt the need to sprint over to the door and do their best king kong impression in excitement to get in! The young people loved using the space and the climbing wall in particular allowed the young people to challenge themselves and each other. We can’t wait to return with another group for them to experience the activity centre and the excitement of a Hopscotch adventure.”
And what did the children themselves have to say about our new activity centre? "WOW!"
Looking back at 2021...
2021 has been a challenging year for so many people, particularly the families and young people living in difficult circumstances in our communities across Scotland. Although COVID restrictions meant we couldn't initially provide our planned respite breaks, we were able to continue to offer our family breaks for those families most impacted by COVID. However by August we were so pleased to be able to resume our usual breaks for children. It was a joy to see Ardvullin busy again, and to see children having adventures, making lots of positive memories as well as new friends.
What were our family respite breaks like? Altogether we had 28 families in total staying with us, coming from various backgrounds and referred to us by 5 different organisations. We offered 3-night stays, running weekly from Monday to Thursday and each family was supported by our fantastic project worker Angus during their stay.
Our usual group respite breaks were able to resume in August, with COVID guidelines in place for everyone's safety. Altogether we were able to have 10 groups come for a HopScotch respite in the second half of the year, coming from all over Scotland. As restrictions eased there was a wider range of activities for the children to enjoy: horse riding, cable car trips, segway rides, beach trips, canoeing, tubing at Glencoe Ski Centre, and nature walks. Angus was on hand as always to support the groups and ensure everyone had a brilliant experience.
And of course, by the end of our 2021 respite break season, we also had the excitement of our activity centre being completed just in time for Church House children to put it through it's paces!
And Finally...Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much to all our wonderful supporters, your support this year has never been more important or more welcome! There are so many stories we could tell about the many ways we have been given that support, but let's finish the year by looking at just two of the most recent ones.
We'd like to say a big thank you to all at Southsider, who are making a donation of lovely presents to HopScotch, for us to give to children who come on respite breaks. We appreciate their generosity and thoughtfulness for this very kind act.
We would also like to say a big thank you to Lily Gray, a 10 year old girl who decided she wanted to fundraise for HopScotch because, as she said, "I would like children to have the same opportunities as me".
Lily organised a garage sale from her home, and her kind-hearted act resulted in her raising an incredible £520 for HopScotch. You can see Lily and her family pictured above handing over her donation at the HopScotch office.
We're looking forward to a busy and extended respite break programme in 2022, and are so grateful to everyone who continues to support us to do what we love to do.
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year!
