In 2024 and 2025 Kaleidoscope is raising funds for both Burton and District MIND and St George’s Hospital in Stafford. This is being done in memory of our late Chair, Helen Klich. She worked at St George’s and, in her work, also with Burton & District MIND on projects supporting mental health service users.
“Burton and District Mind are your local mental health charity covering East Staffordshire, Tamworth and Lichfield District. Each year we support 4,000 people with the recovery of mental health problems.
Sometimes, one of our participants has a one-off need that no funder can fund, or partner charity can support – this might because it is out of scope or because the need is just so urgent. We have committed the donations from our friends at Kaleidoscope Choir to go towards a new bursary called ‘Helen’s Bursary’, which can be used by our Recovery Workers or Outreach Workers who have identified these needs. Perhaps it’ll fund essential travel, or white goods, or anything else that can really accelerate that’s person’s mental health recovery.
We hope that Helen Klich’s huge commitment to helping people with mental health problems can be remembered by this legacy. Together, we’ll leave no mind behind.”
(Keri Lawrence, Development and Sustainability Officer, Burton and District Mind.
Kids Like Us
‘Kids like Us’ is a charity supporting juvenile arthritis and CRMO, chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis in the West Midlands. It was adopted as our supported charity for 2023. The choir held fund-raising concerts and raffles and donated money from rehearsal refreshments amounting to £914. In addition the charity joined the choir at a concert with collection buckets and merchandise, which raised a further £400.
JDFR (Junior Diabetes Research Foundation)
The choir raised a fantastic £607 for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetic Research Fund) at a concert in September 2022.
Memory Cafe
The choir had adopted the Memory Café as its 2022 charity and funds were raised both at concerts and during rehearsals. These funds have enabled Memory Café members to enjoy extra activities such as a visit to the panto, dancing etc. , including a coronation party.