By June of that year, Joanne had began discussing with friends and old colleagues the 'lack of things to do for poorly children' in our area. This seed of conversation eventually grew into a plan to combat this issue. With calls of support, offers to volunteer and money raised before things were even off the ground, Joanne and her partner got underway building Sunflowers;

"When I left the previous charity and let Mark Webb know at E-Factor, he said to me 'when you have a lightbulb moment, come and have a coffee.' So, I took my lightbulb moment and had a cuppa with him, and he was brilliant at asking me the questions I needed to ask myself... The idea was to hold a huge children’s Christmas party for children with life-limiting conditions, which would cost £10,000."

The event was a success and before too long, Sunflowers had grown into a fully fledged action group. As of 2024 Sunflowers is working with around 130 families, all of whom have a child with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. Working with medical professionals and small businesses across the area, for example their Cinema Club with Parkway Cinema and accessible gymnastic sessions at Bounceback.

"What I think is very important is, where possible, to reinvest the money we raise from the local community back into the local community."

"We’ve gone from one Christmas party to supporting these families throughout lockdown (with virtual events and doorstep deliveries) to this year, if all goes to plan, holding over 80 different sessions of varying activities for the children... I want to base each event on reducing isolation, improving mental health (and physical health where we can), on making things that would otherwise be impossible possible, and increasing inter-family support."

Between event planning, fundraising applications and other admin, much of the work at Sunflowers is done by Joanne (who sees the work as a 'full-time hobby') and her partner Derek who owns his own business and acts as the treasurer for Sunflowers. Lots of the effort involved with Sunflowers comes down to encouraging comfort and communication over social media, making sure anyone who needs any extra support can get it. But there are countless people who volunteer their time as guardians, supporters, donors or otherwise; Kate, Paul, Linda, Rachel, and Allison just to name a few!

Sunflowers manages to operate from Joanne's home office, using Derek's own business for storage space, meaning as much of the money raised or donated as possible goes straight to paying for events and making memories!

Looking to the future, Jo said: "Sunflowers has already evolved into so much more than we had hoped it would be. We want to continue to evolve – we listen to the parents and their feedback and what is valuable to them in planning future events. We love that so many of the children have made friends and they are no longer isolated, that they are not judged for having needs that are a little different."

Sunflowers Children's Action Group is always looking for anyone who can volunteer their time and skills to the project, fundraisers or businesses willing to work together to offer the families something new. The volunteer-run group have also said they're planning on increasing digital access to their work via 'virtual' sponsors and posting more content of the smiling faces your donations help to create!

You can contact Jo for any enquiries, volunteering or donations at joanne@sunflowers.org.uk

Words by Connor Stannard

Photography by Dan Clarke

Portrait proudly sponsored by...