The Sure Community Foundation, the charitable enterprise of the telecoms company Sure, has donated £49,000 to local causes across Sure locations since the start of  the coronavirus pandemic.

Sure is committed to being part of island life and the Foundation, which is run purely by Sure staff across the organisation, has been working hard to increase its support to help those that need it most during this difficult time. Since the outbreak, Sure staff across the seven territories increased their donations and raised £12,700 which Sure matched pound for pound to help the Foundation further its support to the community.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many charities have seen an increase in work and the Foundation has tried to support as many as possible locally in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Karen Jagger of the Sure Community Foundation said: “Everyone involved with the Foundation has been working incredibly hard to help as many people as possible. Although our support is often small, we hope that we have helped islanders. We are always looking for charities to get in touch with us, so please let us know if you too would like support”.

If you would like to get in touch with us about a charitable or community project, please email  [email protected] or visit the website for more information.

Jersey

The charity Brightly, which aims to support people from birth to 25 living in care, leaving care or are experiencing adversity were supplied with vouchers to feed ten children. The Foundation also supplied Les Ormes, which transitioned into a food station during lockdown, with five new mobile phones and SIM cards to enable them to stay in touch with their drivers delivering food to vulnerable islanders.

Alan Le Pavoux, Charity Manager for the Bosdet Foundation which owns Les Ormes said: “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Volunteer.je has been instrumental in recruiting and placing volunteers to support our community. From food banks and meals on wheels to healthcare assistance and dog walkers this support has only been possible because of high quality access to the Internet and telephone support. Mobiles kindly donated by Sure have enabled us to provide a continuous service anywhere on the island. We are really grateful to Sure for providing this resource and the impact it has had in maintaining our service.”

Another charity supported by the Foundation during the pandemic was Beresford Street Kitchen, which is usually a busy café, meeting point and social hub in Jersey, that provides workplace opportunities for people with widely ranging skills and life experiences. The charity set up a Pay it Forward scheme to support people during lockdown and has provided over 3,500 home cooked and chilled, nutritious meals to people in the community. To support the scheme, the Foundation donated £500 which will provide a further 100 meals for Jersey residents in need.

During lockdown it was harder for islanders to stay well, both mentally and physically. The charity Mind Jersey has been working tirelessly to continue its support to new and existing clients by finding new ways of communicating with clients while one to one meetings were temporarily suspended. To support the charity the Foundation donated £500 to help them continue the great work they are doing for the Jersey community.

Guernsey

In Guernsey, the Foundation applied Sure’s expertise and provided the Guernsey Lions Club, St Martins Church and the Rohais Methodist Church with free access to Sure’s on-demand voice conference service to allow members to stay connected and continue to carry out meetings and services during lockdown.

While children studied at home, some junior and secondary school students were without access to the internet. The Foundation provided these students with free WiFi to help them continue their studies while they were confined to their homes. This support was also provided to members of the community that had no way of contacting family or friends and the Foundation partnered up with the charity We All Matter, Eh! as part of the #StayConnected initiative to support islanders in residential accommodation so they could keep in touch with loved ones.

Karen Blanchford from We All Matter Eh? said: “The Sure Community Foundation has supported the #StayConnected initiative since it began. Initially they provided us with WiFi devices including data for phase one and arranged more for phase two at a reduced rate. We are not just grateful for the technological support but for believing in the project and wanting to help us connect older and vulnerable people by helping us to reduce the number of islanders feeling isolated and help increase their independence. We want to say a special thanks to Karren Jagger who has been actively involved and a key partner.”

Many charities in Guernsey saw increase in demand while the island was in lockdown. The Guernsey Welfare Service saw service triple. A crucial service for islanders who were unable to visit food bank sites during the coronavirus outbreak. The Foundation donated £500 towards the charity to help it deliver packages filled with a variety of essential food and household items to vulnerable islanders.

Mind Guernsey also saw an increase in demand which meant that volunteers had to work an increased number of hours. The charity, which works to promote positive mental wellbeing for the Community, were supplied with a donation of £3,240 by the Foundation to help with the provision of handsets for staff members.

While families were confined to their homes, islanders suffering from domestic abuse faced greater risks. The Foundation were happy to support the charity Safer with a donation of 10 mobile devices. Devices were also provided for families in Sark, while they too were limited to their homes.

Lastly, another charity which saw challenges while the island was in lockdown was the MS Society. The charity, which funds research and support for people living with multiple sclerosis, has recently reopened its services after being unable to fundraise while restrictions were in place. The foundation supported the charity with a donation of £2,280 which will cover nearly all costs of exercise classes at Beau Sejour for people with MS for the next six months.

Isle of Man

Sure is committed to being part of island life and the Foundation, which is run purely by Sure staff across the organisation, has been working hard to increase its support to help those that need it most during this difficult time. Since the outbreak, Sure staff across the seven territories increased their donations and raised £12,700 which Sure matched pound for pound to help the Foundation further its support to the community.
The Foundation, which launched in the Isle of Man this year, has already provided support to multiple local charities including the Isle of Man Foodbank. The Foodbank prioritised food supplies to those in the community who have been most affected by the coronavirus due to vulnerability and inability to leave home. The Foundation was pleased to donate £500 to help the charity continue the great work they provide for the local community.

Utilising Sure’s expertise, the Foundation provided the charities Live at Home and Southern Befrienders with access to Sure’s on-demand voice conference service. Both Manx registered charities serve older residents in the community and the donation of a conference call facility helped to combat the feeling of isolation for members who were unable to have visitors. Further support from the Foundation allowed its members to continue social events through their landlines.

The Foundation provided the local hospice with SIM cards and credit for their tablet devices to help volunteers and nurses while they are out in the community helping patients who were unable to see family or friends. Local charity Singing Jo & Co was also provided with a phone to enable the charity to continue its singing, dancing, rhyme and drama sessions that promote linguistic, cognitive, emotional, creative and physical skills and fitness for babies and toddlers.

Service has dramatically increased for the charity Crossroads while the Isle of Man has been in lockdown. It has provided services to local carers for over 30 years, offering support to carers and people with care needs no matter their disability, age, or illness. To support the cause the Foundation donated six mobile phones with credit for the new care support workers to help deliver services at patients’ homes.

CEO at Crossroads, Jackie Betteridge said: “On behalf of Crossroads I would like to thank the Sure Community Foundation for their support. The mobile phones they have provided will help us to ensure the safety of our care support workers who are delivering home care services in the community and allow them to provide essential support. The past few months have been difficult for local charities, including ourselves, so we are extremely grateful to the Foundation for their support and generosity at this time.”

Mike Phillips, chief executive of Sure in the Isle of Man, said: “Everyone involved with the Foundation has been working incredibly hard and this can be seen by the number of charities we have been able to help in this short amount of time. Although our support is often small, we hope our help has contributed to our island and reminds people that they are not alone. We continue to seek for charities to help so get in touch with us if you too would like support.”