Care Leavers and Estranged Students across the country spend Christmas alone, particularly those students who are staying in student accommodation. This time of year can increase feelings of loneliness and increased mental health concerns. Whilst non care-experienced students are going home to families in the holidays, care experienced and estranged students are staying in their student accommodation over Christmas with nobody checking in on them during this time.

The BrightFutures Society, founded in 2024, aims to reduce the feelings of isolation and low mood over Christmas. We are pleading to the wider Greenwich audience to help us fund a Christmas dinner so that we can provide care experienced and estranged students in student accommodation feelings of community and warmth on this particular festive time. In addition, we are collaborating with Greenwich Cares under the Student Wellbeing Services to provide the best outcome of support for care experienced and estranged students.

Your contribution would help immensely and could change the way an independent student feels about the Christmas holidays.

Thank you,

April Williams

Founder and President of BrightFutures Society

A.S.Williams@gre.ac.uk

Chris Colson

Greenwich Cares Manager

C.A.Colson@gre.ac.uk