News & Events
For the latest updates on what we have been working on, please follow our Facebook page or find us on Twitter.
Fantastic fundraising
MARCH 2022
We were delighted to visit Sevenoaks Preparatory School this week to be awarded a cheque for a whopping £1,718 raised by pupils.
Students raised funds through a Christmas Jumper day, their Christmas bazaar and a bake sale.
We are so grateful to each and every young person who took part.
If you would like to raise money for F4F through a community event, please get in touch.
Singing for our supper
MARCH 2022
The Sevenoaks Sings choir are holding a 'part concert - part sing along’ on Sat 19th March to raise money for F4F and another charity. The concert will begin with a series of uplifting songs from the community choir, and end in a giant sing along. With a raffle, licensed bar and snacks available it’s sure to be a brilliant community occasion. So come along and join the fun, every voice is welcome.
The concert is taking place on Sat, 19 March 2022, 19:00–21:30 at Trinity School, Seal Hollow Road, Sevenoaks TN13 3SL. Tickets start at just £5 and are available to buy here.
Can you help us make a child’s Christmas this year?
DECEMBER 2021
It’s time to get started on our Christmas appeal. So if you’d like to take part in it this year, please read on. We know there is a lot of information here, but it’s important to please bear with us and read in full before you offer to help.
What is the christmas appeal?
Each year since we began work, we have worked with Children’s Services in Sevenoaks District and Dartford to provide Christmas gifts to families living in real financial hardship. Last year, we provided two Christmas gifts each for 274 children and 114 hampers for these families with your support, a truly wonderful act of community spirit by you all.
This year, we think there are likely to be even more children and families in need of our help this year. This autumn and winter will be very challenging for vulnerable families and we are all the more determined that, with your help, we’ll try to brighten people’s lives a little.
How you can help
There are two ways to take part this year. We are going to be quite prescriptive about this project to make sure each child and family gets something suitable, so please forgive us if we’re quite detailed in our requirements.
The first way is by providing a gift for a child. If you’d like to do this, please email us at F4Fchristmas@outlook.com and we’ll be in touch as soon as we have matched you with a child in need of a present to confirm their age and sex and an idea of what the child might like. We’ll ask you to wrap and label the present (we’ll tell you how) and drop it off to us no later than the end of November so that we can get everything delivered in time.
Alternatively, we can give you a list of recommended non-perishable food items (and things not to buy) to make up a ‘Bag for Life’ for an individual family. Again, if you’d like to take part in this way, please email us at F4Fchristmas@outlook.com.
Please only use this email address if you want to support this campaign; this helps us make sure we don’t lose track of any offers of help. We may not be able to reply immediately, but we will get back to everyone who gets in touch.
Thank you to everyone who takes part. We can’t do this without your help, but with it we can make a difference for local families who badly need some Christmas cheer this year.
Fashion with Friends
***Our first sustainable shopping event, Fashion with Friends, has now taken place. We’ll be updating these pages shortly with an update on how much we raised. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who donated an item, attended the event or otherwise supported us.***
Friday 8th October 7.30-9.30pm @ Bat & Ball Community Centre. Tickets £15, email f4fevent@mail.com to secure yours now.
We’ve been totally blown away by the donations for our sustainable shopping event. The ladies of Sevenoaks clearly have great taste and have been harbouring lots of new and barely worn clothes in their wardrobes! So whether you’re hoping to pick up a little black dress for the Christmas party season, a coat to see you through the autumn months or a gorgeous pair of heels, we’ve got something for you. Take a look at just a few of the amazing items available in the carousel below.
As well as being able to pick up a bargain or two, there will be expert styling advice from the lovely Amy Hall @hallandco & Karen Savage from the gorgeous @the_style_house_brasted. The inspiring local fashion stylist & Sevenoaks mum, @stylistfleur will be talking us through the key to sustainable shopping. @bellarosalingerie will be on hand to help you find the perfect lingerie for under any outfit and the award winning @meadowskincareuk team are ready to guide you through how to love your skin.
All this will be topped off with bubbles supplied by Manak Solicitors & delicious canapes kindly supplied by the wonderful ladies from @thehappygrazingcompany.
Email us on f4fevent@mail.com for your ticket (limited number available) or to make any final donations of items for the sale.
February 2019
We at Friends For Families are so grateful to Debbie and Lisa of https://www.facebook.com/awomanwhocan for organising an amazing weekend of fun and laughter to raise money for us. Between the two of them they put together two drag nights this weekend, and raised £1836 for us. It's an astonishing sum raised and will enable us to do so much to help local families.
We know what a huge amount of work this has been for both Debbie and Lisa, an absolutely massive effort of generosity and altruism on their part. They have a very well deserved local reputation as excellent decorators but I don't think quite as many people are aware of the fact that they are simply lovely human beings too. They really are Women Who Can, and we're very thankful for that!
(By the way, can you see how astonished and delighted our Chair was when the boys announced how much money was raised for us!).
January 2020
One of the high spots of 2019 for us was when Sevenoaks Panto contacted us and let us know that they'd chosen us as their charity for the Christmas Panto season.
They were absolutely brilliant, and gave their time, talent and enthusiasm to raise funds for us way beyond our hopes. Today four of the trustees visited the Stag to collect a cheque from panto favourite Silly Billy and producer Jamie Alexander WIlson for all the money raised over the run of Aladdin. The total, we are completely thrilled to say, is a stunning £11,567.96! How amazing is that!
Thank you so much to Jamie, Silly Billy and all the cast and crew, and our heartfelt thanks also to all of the lovely audiences for your wonderful generosity!
18 May 2019
Join us on the 18th May at Sevenoaks Prep school for our Spring Celebration and launch!
10 May 2019
The Friends for Families trustees were delighted to be invited to meet with the outgoing and incoming Chairmen of Sevenoaks District Council and their spouses. We discussed how the charity came about and talked about the work that we do before enjoying a tour of the council chamber. We are really pleased to have been awarded a grant from SDC to enable our work helping families in need within the Sevenoaks District and would like to thank the council for their support.
Saturday 8 September 2018 - Our launch
We would like to thank our very own “Friends & Families” for helping us to turn our dream of helping our local community into a reality. We have already touched so many lives in the Sevenoaks district and without you all, this would never have been possible.
We would like to give a particular mention to Ben, who has built this wonderful website, for his unwavering support in all things technical, and to Fiona Lowrie for giving us so much of her time and advice to help us to be comfortable with the minefield that is GDPR.
We would also like to give special thanks to the wonderful members of Shona’s Runners who have never failed to come to the rescue when we have had a specific and often urgent need to address and who have given us their constant support and encouragement to launch this charity, and of course to the Sevenoaks Women’s Forum with whom we started this journey back at Christmas 2017, when they provided gifts, clothes and hampers with such generosity.
We can’t forget our wonderful corporate sponsors who have made generous donations to help us to get out of the starting blocks. Thank you to Shawbrook Bank and Dalmore Capital Limited: we are very grateful for your support.
We would like to keep Friends for Families running for as long as there is a need for our work, and without your continued support, encouragement and donations this just won’t be possible. So THANK YOU from the very bottom of our F4F hearts on behalf of all the families we have supported and will support over the coming years.
Below is an extract of a letter which we were sent from Children’s Services which hopefully makes very clear just what a difference we can all make together:
‘I wanted to put into writing our gratitude for all that Friends for Families have done to assist Children’s Social Work Services in Dartford and Sevenoaks. Since late 2017 you have kindly assisted many children and their families who have needed practical support to assist them due to a wide range of needs and often at times of significant stress.
Various social workers and managers have commented on the generosity and speed with which you assist families, where otherwise there would often be unmet needs. Examples have included provisions of vital furniture and bedding, enabling children to participate in social activities outside of their home and providing items such as toys and bikes. I am aware that over Christmas 2017 many families were extremely grateful for the toys and gifts made available.
The purpose of this letter is to ensure that you are aware that your ongoing work and support is deeply appreciated and valued, both by the families and also by the social workers who approach you with requests.’
Watch this space for more news coming soon and in the meantime; if you do want to help further, now or in the future, our bank details can be found on the “Donate” page, or contact us at contact@friendsforfamilies.org.