C&B will be contributing funds to enable a minimum of 45 children to be taken on a ‘memory making day’.

C&B is delighted to announce that MYTIME Young Carers, a local charity with a mission to level the playing field for young carers, will be its nominated charity partner for 2022. A number of fund-raising activities will take place throughout the year, before the Chicken & Blues Neighbourhood Fund makes a donation to MYTIME Young Carers in December.

MYTIME offers many projects and activities to young carers to provide them with the support, friendship and opportunities that every child deserves. There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK. You’re a young carer if you’re under 18 and help to look after a family member with a disability, illness, mental health condition or drug or alcohol dependency.

MYTIME helps young carers in several ways, for example, by providing:

• Opportunities to meet with other young carers on Making Memories days out

• Once in a lifetime stays at MYTIME’s amazing R & R Retreat Centre on the Jurassic Coast

• Chances to connect with other young carers through an online youth group

• Support to schools, so that school staff can recognise and meet young carers’ needs

• An Employability Programme to help young adult carers find work, training or further education

Chicken & Blues is taking on the challenge of raising enough funds to send a minimum of 45+ young carers on a Making Memories day out, as well as C&B Team Members being given paid time off from C&B in order to volunteer for various MYTIME projects throughout the year.

Joshua Simons, C&B: “Since opening our first C&B restaurant in Boscombe nearly 10 years ago, it has been one of our core values to support the local community whenever possible. During the pandemic, we decided to set up the Chicken & Blues Neighbourhood Fund as a vehicle for this – and with the generous donations from our business partners and Patrons across Bournemouth and Poole, we were able to contribute meaningfully to front-line workers and those in need. This year, we thought it best to partner with one nominated charity on some focused fund-raising. Having met with Krista and Penny at MYTIME, and discussed various ideas with our Teams, we are motivated to raise as much money as we can for the fund throughout 2022”.

Krista Sharp, MYTIME Young Carers: “We’re thrilled to have been chosen as this year’s Chicken & Blues charity partner. As a charity, we receive no government funding at all, so we rely on our local community to get behind us. C&B have made some incredible commitments to support the charity already, and the partnership is sure to help raise awareness of the important work we do at MYTIME, as well as much-needed funds. We’re really excited to see what the year ahead has in store.”

Read more about MYTIME Young Carers HERE

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