We must be integrated while isolated – By Sarah Green, Chief Executive
Survivors of burns are at the forefront of our organisation, supporting them and their rehabilitation is the focus of everything we do. It is therefore devastating to us that at this moment in time we are temporarily closing our Rehabilitation Centre and pausing some of our restoration services, this is however a necessary move if we are to ensure the safety of our survivors and the team that work with them. We can assure everyone that we will be back up and running as soon as it is safe to do so.
In the meantime our work is concentrating on having financial stability through this time. This year is our 10th anniversary, we had lots of events and fundraising activities planned in the first half of this year to raise vital funds for care and activities to take place in our cottage, a new space which will be a special place for survivors to improve their physical fitness in comfort and privacy. There were also plans to fundraise for our unique and cherished restoration services, which now have to be paused and replaced with other efforts. We do still hope that we will be able to carry on with some of this fundraising and hope that you all continue your support for us during this time – we want to continue building a stronger Katie Piper Foundation and your support is vital if we are to weather this storm.
We will also be working our hardest to support survivors during this time. Those of you who have been through our Rehabilitation Centre will know that a key focus of the activities at the Centre is to build up mental wellbeing, to reduce anxiety and increase confidence. We want to continue to do this as much as we can, albeit from a distance. At this difficult time, as we all begin to distance and isolate we want to ensure our whole community is integrated – to be socially close while physically distant. Over the next couple of weeks we will be calling people who engage with our services, building up our resources on the website and on social media, with ideas for reducing anxiety and supporting wellbeing. I would also like to assure any survivors out there that we are still on the end of a phone, Johanne our Head of Patient Support is available to talk to each and every one of you through our Survivor Support Line (07496 827266), if you are feeling alone, down or just need a chat.
Take care and I look forward to seeing you all as soon as I can.