Rainbow Centre in Fareham which provides a 'lifeline' for families needs extra support to continue services

Five-year-old Ivy Plested is part of the family at Fareham’s Rainbow Centre, and is enjoying virtual sessions with older brother Oliver and baby sister Flora.

Ivy, from Hill Head, was born with a rare brain disorder which means that she has impaired movements and speech and has been attending Fareham’s Rainbow Centre since she was one year old.

When Covid-19 struck and lockdown began, The Rainbow Centre felt that this was an even more important time to stay connected with families like Ivy’s who would normally attend sessions at the centre, despite fundraising being impossible.

Initially, as most of the staff had been furloughed, the centre uploaded videos to Facebook for the families to access at any time that was convenient.

Following the success of these sessions the centre felt it could do more, so for the last 13 weeks themed sessions have been streamed live morning and afternoon.

Ivy’s dad Matt said: ‘I can’t tell you what a lifeline these sessions have been for the whole family, not just for Ivy. Some of the sessions are just focused on Ivy’s specific needs but the afternoon story time is brilliant for all the children.

‘They look forward to seeing familiar faces reading and talking to them, reminding them to sit up straight at the same time as teaching them the themes and values within the stories.’

Like many other small charities, The Rainbow Centre is fighting for survival following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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In January The Rainbow Centre launched its 30th Anniversary programme of fundraising, designed to celebrate an amazing milestone.

Several events were planned every month to maximise awareness of the charity as well as the income. All this has been cancelled and their three charity shops were closed.

Helen Somerset How, operations director and co-founder said: ‘We are grateful for the few donations we’ve received from community groups and trusts, and government support has been welcomed but we are spending our limited reserves and the longer it takes before significant fundraising can restart the less chance we have to survive.’

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