Our financial year in review 20/21

2020/21 was very challenging for young people, but thanks to your help it was still an incredible year for the charity.  We developed new services and were able to recruit additional passionate and talented staff to help children in need.  We now have a team of more than 100 volunteers and staff.

That means that more children now have someone to turn to when they need help.
Read our Annual Report
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Eikon's Annual Report
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What did we achieve in 2020/21 thanks to you?

Youth specialists supported almost 900 children

Despite school closures, our youth specialists continued to provide high-quality preventative and personalised support, both face-to-face and remotely, including targeted welfare calls.

We worked directly with 7 Surrey schools to provide the webinar for 158 parents and teachers. They went away with a better understanding of the factors affecting wellbeing and practical ways to support children in their care.

Our wellbeing ambassador programme, Head Smart, was downloaded by 12 secondary schools and 18 primary schools in Surrey, helping to equip young people with knowledge about mental health and practical activities to promote positive wellbeing in their school.

Our Smart Moves programme was downloaded 497 times by schools and organisations working with young people across the country (including Surrey).

Online youth club EikOnline launched in October 2020, giving young people a safe online space during the pandemic.

We protected support for the LGBT+ community during the pandemic and our reach increased by moving our successful youth group IAmMe online.

Thanks to a generous one-off grant and strong support from individuals across Surrey and beyond. We hope that our supporters will continue to help us be there for young people in need.

New challenges

The pandemic has created new challenges for children in many ways, and those who were already disadvantaged or struggling with their mental health have been affected even more.  The continual disruption to school has made it difficult for children trying to learn at home when isolating or under lockdown, while returning to school has also been a cause of stress and anxiety for other young people.  Even once back in school, there are children feeling alone and struggling to reconnect with friends.  This all makes our work more important than ever.  With your support, we will continue to provide safe places for young people who face a range of serious challenges.

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“I was just feeling very anxious all of the time, and it was getting to a point where it was affecting my schoolwork and social life, and I was exhausted all of the time from like, the physical side of it and I was just really struggling to cope with all of that and do everything I wanted to do at school.”

“I was terrified of putting myself out there, which eventually led to some self-harm out of frustration that I couldn’t do any of that. But speaking to somebody really helped.”

If you are interested in reading more about the impact of the pandemic on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, there are lots of other resources on the Government website here.

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