Executive director Lucy Bradshaw considers what it means to run a small charity in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
A lot of us do it. Give £3 or £5 a month to a charity that we feel a connection to. For me it’s the RSPCA and Water Aid. As the costs of daily essentials have kept creeping up, it’s understandable to question whether these small donations make any difference at all.
I can tell you that, for a small charity like London Bubble – YES, they have a big impact.
At London Bubble we build community through making theatre together. Communities are made up of lots of individuals and when they work together, they have the power to make a big difference. We see it in our theatre making. When our Young Theatre Makers pool their ideas and life experiences, they create inspiring, topical theatre about the issues that matter most in their lives. Every week in Speech Bubbles, groups of children come into the middle of their story square to tell the story that one of their group has narrated to the teacher after the previous week’s session. They cluster together to become a forest, a castle, a dragon … whatever their imaginations decide.
Small, regular donations from individuals who contribute what they can – the price of a coffee or a meal deal – adds up to a lot. It gives us the stability to keep going.
Grant funding is more stretched than ever. I’ve had several conversations with funders who have no option but to turn down great applications because there just isn’t enough funding to go around. Knowing we have monthly donations coming in means security for a small charity like London Bubble. It supports our staff team’s resilience, shows that you share our values and encourages us to keep going.
At Bubble we see the difference that building a community can make and we value everyone’s contribution.