This month is FundBrave - a month where we as a charity ask individuals to raise funds for us all month.

When we started Brave 4.5 years ago, we never imagined that it would be what it is now.

We set up Brave as a small not for profit to show Parent Carers that we understand how hard it is and how important it was to prioritise their own self care needs. We started with just 50 Brave Boxes made from an Amazon Wishlist.

Now we have provided self care opportunities to nearly 8,000 Parent Carers. We hold in person events, virtual events, work closely with hospitals, hospital accommodation and hospices and collab with other charities (big charities who we often can’t believe get in contact with us).

We are a tiny charity. We have no premises, no employees and Brave is run by kind hearted, hard working, special volunteers who fully believe in the ethos of why we set up.

As we are such a small charity, our funds are extremely limited. We take every penny donated seriously ensuring that we always put the charity focus first. It’s always ‘how can this support a parent carer?’ and ‘how can we provide self care for them using these funds?’

So this FundBrave we are doing a Founders Fund for something we know will make a difference in spreading awareness and reaching more Parent Carers. We are fundraising for a branded gazebo!

We are now getting out within the local community raising awareness. We know there are thousands of Parent Carers in the Essex area who may not be aware of who we are and what we can offer to them. This year, we really want to spread the Brave name to all Parent Carers of children with complex medical needs in the local area and seeing our Brave logo pop up across the county will help us to do this.