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Foyer residents with the Blackwood Group
Young mothers and their babies at Focus E15 Foyer had a Christmas and New Year to remember after local charity East Potential was given a £5,000 donation from the Blackwood Group.
The Blackwood Group is a independent executive search firm who every year engage in an annual Christmas charity auction to give back to the community. This year the items up for auction ranged from days of babysitting, to tennis lessons and a tour of the Royal Courts of Justice.
The money raised - £5,073 in total – was used for Christmas gifts and a party for young mothers and their babies at Focus E15 Foyer, and in the New Year, East Potential will put the rest of the donation towards building opportunities for the disadvantaged, vulnerable and homeless young people living in east London.
Young mother Zaianb (pictured) said: “This is our first Christmas and New Year together and it’s so lovely that the Blackwood Group have taken the time out to make it so special for us all. We’re very grateful - they don’t know what this means to us, it’s definitely going to be a happy new year.”
The Blackwood Group said: “We are only at the beginning of our relationship with East Thames but we have already been deeply impressed by both the quality of their work and the scope of people they help. We are looking forward to continuing to work with them and support their work within the community.”
East Thames chief executive June Barnes said: “I’d like to thank the Blackwood Group for their continued generosity and support. The actions their staff took to raise the funds is admirable and their donation has already made a difference to the service we provide to local young people to enable them to reach their full potential.’’
Focus E15 Foyer is the largest foyer in theUKand offers specialist accommodation and support for young people aged 16-24. Sixteen of the accommodation units are for young parents who have access to specialist life skills sessions including nutrition for babies, keeping your baby healthy and parenting skills. They also have a toy library for parents and a play area for their children.
