The Reed Foundation donates £10,000 to Lancashire-based charity, A.C.E

The Reed Foundation, part of the Reed Group, is donating £10,000 every week for a year to support 52 different charities, chosen by its employees. This means that by April 2025, the Reed Foundation will have donated an incredible £520,000. The initiative is a celebration of Reed’s 65th year in business and its Founder, Sir Alec Reed’s 90th birthday.

Every week, a Reed employee is drawn randomly to nominate a charity of their choice to receive the incredible donation. This time around, it was Rachel Gill – a Recruitment Manager based in Reed’s Lancaster office.

Speaking about her reasons for nominating the local charity, Rachel said: “I’ve seen the great work A.C.E does firsthand. A close friend used their services to support their child who was going through a traumatic time.

“The emotional health and wellbeing of the younger generation is becoming an increasingly important topic. The child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) provided by the NHS is strained; waiting lists can be long and not everyone qualifies for immediate referral.

“But when it comes to mental health, time is of the essence, and it can sometimes take a long time for children to access the support they need. This is where A.C.E plays a vital role. Families are able to self-refer to A.C.E to access support, as soon as possible. The team offers unparalleled provision – not only to the young people who are struggling with their mental health, but also to their parents.

A.C.E works with children and young people aged 10 to 25 across North Lancashire, offering support to improve their mental health and build emotional resilience. The team delivers person-centred, solution-focused and goal-based work, in the form of counselling, trauma therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, using a variety of methods to meet the needs of children and young people. They work collaboratively with families and other organisations and services to support the progression and recovery of those they look after.

Sally Temple, Director at A.C.E, commented: "We are so grateful to the Reed Foundation and Rachel who nominated us. The donation has made a massive difference to our charity and will enable us to support more young people and their families through difficult periods, which are causing distress and negatively affecting their mental health.

“Recently, the grant that funded our family work ended, and we have been struggling to find alternative sources to enable us to continue this valuable work. We have decided to use the money to get an expert to help us gain sustainable funding for the future, so the £10,000 will support the provision of a family worker for more than a year. We cannot thank Rachel enough for her nomination.

“There’s a double bonus for us too – because when we met with Rachel to thank her for nominating us, she agreed to become one of our trustees. We are delighted that she will bring her skills and knowledge to help us develop our much-needed service.”

Rachel added: “When I was nominated, I knew straight away I wanted to pick A.C.E. The charity relies wholly on donation and funding – which is already such a competitive spA.C.E.

"I know this money means A.C.E will be able to support more families and raise awareness to those struggling that there is help available.”