Jolly Josh awarded £1,000 grant from Cadent Foundation

The Jolly Josh charity, which hosts stay-and-play sessions for children with disabilities and special needs in Rochdale, has been awarded a £1,000 grant by the Cadent Foundation.

Jolly Josh, which provides dedicated peer support and safe spaces for children, families and carers of children with disabilities, complex and special needs, was voted one of three runners up alongside The Tree of Life Centre in Wythenshawe and Salford Deaf Children’s Society.

More than 1,000 customers took part in the voting process with Stockport’s Pure Insight being awarded the top grant of £2,000. 
 

Read more: Jolly Josh shortlisted for £2,000 Cadent Foundation GrantPublished: 18 November 2020

Jolly Josh founder and trustee, Carole Kelly, said: “Thank you kindly for choosing to support Jolly Josh; your generous donation will help us to support the expansion of our charity.

“We are currently developing our ‘place to call home,’ an accessible, inclusive venue and therefore your funds are gratefully received to progress this development. The Jolly Josh centre will enable families with disabled children and/or those with complex/additional needs, to Connect, Support, Thrive and Inspire Inclusion within and around the borough of Rochdale. Thank you so much for being key to our success.”

Named after their son, Jolly Josh was started in September 2017 by Carole and James Kelly, of Wardle, after discovering there were no groups for young disabled children in Rochdale. At the age of six months, Josh was confirmed to have ‘extensive brain damage’ due to the genetic condition Mitochondrial Disease, which causes mutations in mitochondria, vital to every cell in the body.

The stay-and-play sessions were set up with the hope to bring families together, provide peer to peer support, share experiences, and eliminate isolation, especially for children with disabilities and special needs throughout the borough.

Sadly, Josh died on 27 August 2017, just one month before his legacy was due to begin.

After two years of sessions at Springside with Hamer Learning Community, the charity is working on developing a home of its own in Castleton where construction began in November 2019.

The centre for Jolly Josh will be fully accessible and inclusive for all children with disabilities/complex needs/additional needs and those with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). It is estimated that it will cost around £100,000 to make the centre fit for use.
 

Read more: Jolly Josh charity group receive keys for new permanent homePublished: 04 November 2019

Julia Dwyer, Director of the Cadent Foundation, said: “Over the last 12 months, the need to come together and support each other has never been more important. We wanted to ensure Cadent customers and colleagues were given the chance to help care for their local community by nominating and voting for charities which were close to their hearts.

“The ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative has been a huge success with 14 charities shortlisted and more than 1,000 customers taking part in the voting process. The project has grown from strength to strength as a direct result of the ongoing focus, commitment and support from colleagues across the North West.

“It has allowed us to focus on where help is needed the most and offer grants to projects where we can make a real difference.”

The Cadent Foundation is funded by local gas network Cadent, and has been established to support projects large and small that help people living in vulnerable situations and disadvantaged communities; protect and preserve the natural environment or support in creating a sustainable energy future for all.

Through its ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative, employees across the North West were asked to trial a new approach to the way in which local grants are allocated – by nominating a local charity which would then go forward to a public vote.

A total of 34 charities were nominated and then shortlisted through an employee voting round.