“When Harry and I started the Charlie Watkins Foundation, we focused on raising money in Charlie’s name to support initiatives such as Chat with Charlie, which we are proud to have delivered in partnership with Mid and North East Essex MIND over three years. As this initiative was coming to an end, we knew that we wanted to extend our support to other projects, both local and national, that are helping young adults with their mental health but, how could we best do this?

Registering our own charity meant that we would be responsible for all the financial returns and audit as well as appointing an independent board of trustees. We soon realised that we did not have the expertise or the time to run a charity, plus neither of us were confident that we knew how to find the best projects to support. However, we were determined to continue organising fundraising activities in Charlie’s memory and ensure that your donations would be used wisely and for the purposes that we wanted to achieve.  We therefore decided to work with Essex Community Foundation (ECF).

ECF is an independent charitable trust that has over 25 years’ experience of managing charitable funds for people and families who want to give something back, but do not have the time or expertise to deal with all the legal requirements of running a charity. By working with ECF, we have the time to focus on fundraising and building a lasting charitable fund in Charlie’s name, while minimising the costs and supporting local charities and national initiatives.  Thus, ensuring that young adults keep talking about mental health and have access to support when they need it.