Powering through the Pandemic - Rosie May Foundation Impact Report

Powering through the Pandemic

Our cover story

The global pandemic was a challenging time for all of us and our support was needed more than ever before, both overseas and in our local community. Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk became a lifeline to many vulnerable people like Margaret, who was delighted to receive cakes during lockdown to celebrate her 92nd birthday.

Pictured: Local resident Margaret with founder and CEO of the Rosie May Foundation, Mary Storrie

u r F o u n d e r s

We are incredibly proud of the work we have done so far, raising over £2million to help some of the poorest and most isolated families in the world, and provide positive futures for women and children, especially girls. Our beautiful daughter Rosie May, forever 10 years old, is, and always will be, our complete inspiration and we know that she will be proud of the living legacy we have created for her. The global pandemic hit us hard, but had a greater effect on those who relied upon us for support. When fundraising events were abruptly halted, so was our income. Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk, who was used at events to promote our women driving for women programme in Sri Lanka, stood idle.

We identified a need closer to home and were able to pivot our resources to help vulnerable people living locally who were largely invisible during the pandemic.

Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk became a lifeline during lockdown, not only for our local community in crisis, but for us as a charity, raising awareness as well as much needed funds, enabling us to emerge stronger and more resilient than ever.

This is the story of how we powered through the pandemic, and we thank you for joining us on our journey.

Mary and Graham xx Co-Founders

RosieMay,aged10

Our Local Impact

Our Global Impact

Rosie The Little Pink Tuk Tuk

Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk became an iconic symbol of hope during the pandemic.

Thanks to our furloughed volunteers, we were able to deliver essential items to vulnerable and self isolating people, when our local businesses were struggling to meet demand. We quickly realised the human interaction of a doorstep chat was just as important as the medicine we were delivering. Our volunteers were often the only face to face contact for many during lockdown.

Rosie became a lifeline, bringing smiles and good cheer to vulnerable and self-isolating people in our local community.

"The simple act of kindness of staying for a doorstep chat may not seem life changing, but for many it is. Often this was, and still is, the only social interaction vulnerable people have on a regular basis."

Angela Jackson, volunteer tuk tuk driver.

D e l i v e r i n g t o m a k e a d i f f e r e n c e

“We appreciated it every time you came to the door. It really was a pleasure to look forward to in those dark days. A real big thank you.”

Lockdown celebrations

During lockdown, many people were forced to celebrate special occasions without their loved ones. This had a devastating impact on mental health, especially for those living alone.

Children also missed their birthday parties with friends, so Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk came to the rescue!

Our amazing team of volunteer bakers donated and hand made over 1,000 iconic rainbow cupcakes.

Using Rosie, we delivered these cakes to local seniors, children and key workers, putting smiles on faces and bringing a sense of hope and joy at this challenging time.

Fish & Chip Friday

Local seniors told us that they missed their tradition of having fish and chips on a Friday during lockdown.

We therefore partnered with our local chip shops and enlisted the help of Bingham Fire Brigade to deliver piping hot fish and chips directly to their door.

In fact, we still continue to deliver fish and chips to our local residents every Friday lunchtime due to popular demand!

"During the pandemic I was furloughed and then made redundant, so I volunteered to drive Rosie as I felt I needed a focus. Setting up Fish & Chip Friday was so rewarding and still is!"

“I live in a small village where we don't have a fish shop and they were my first fish and chips for over a year!

Now I look forward to them every week. Thank you so much!“

Dave, local resident

"Thank you so much for continuing to deliver fish and chips to me and my neighbour every Friday. We both really look forward to it. What a wonderful service!"

Anna, local

resident

Roy Farrell, volunteer tuk tuk driver

Delivering v

The pharmacy delivery service was a lifeline to so many vulnerable people who were self-isolating during the pandemic.

Bingham Pharmacy has always delivered medicines to patients who cannot collect their prescriptions, but the increased pressure on this service during the pandemic meant extra help was needed, especially in rural communities.

Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk and our fantastic team of volunteers delivered daily to get vital medical supplies to those who couldn’t leave their homes.

Doorstep Chats

"We realised very quickly that the human interaction of a doorstep chat was just as important to isolated people as the food or medicine we were delivering."

Phil Drabble, volunteer tuk tuk driver

Connie’s Story

Connie had been shielding during the lockdown and her family organised shopping to be delivered to her each week, but were unable to visit her. Our volunteers were her only visitors and their doorstep chats became a lifeline not only for Connie but for her family too.

Our volunteers would record video messages from Connie and send them to her family who would return videos in the same way.

When it was Connie's birthday, her daughter reached out to ask if cakes could be delivered by Rosie.

Connie loved Rosie, who brought back fond memories of her time living in Asia and, of course, created another topic of conversation!

Our Impact

Lowering anxiety through socially distanced doorstep deliveries

Reducing loneliness by promoting positive mental health and well being Supporting vulnerable people most at risk from Coronavirus

Helping NHS workers by delivering hot meals to those isolating with their families

T u k T u k S a n t a

“My two children were very upset because we could not visit Santa at Christmas. They told me that when Tuk Tuk Santa came to their school they knew that they had not been forgotten. Thank you!”

Helen, parent to Lucy (6) and Timmy (4)

It wasn't only children, but also seniors who enjoyed a visit from Tuk Tuk Santa, as many were not able to see family at Christmas.

In December, Tuk Tuk Santa was busy saving Christmas for local children. Grottos were closed, so Tuk Tuk Santa and his elf delivered socially distanced visits to doorsteps and school playgrounds across Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Tuk Tuk Santa told the children that he was driving Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk because his elves were 'elf isolating' and showed them Rudoph's bell as evidence!

Our Impact

Supported by FHP Living and ABL Properties, Tuk Tuk Santa helped bring cheer to so many by delivering festive trees and hampers to those spending Christmas alone.

International Emergency Food Appeal

During lockdown, our families in Sri Lanka and Nepal, who are mostly daily workers, lost their income and were forced to live on or below the poverty line.

Without a social support network, they relied on our support more than ever. Mums told us they would rather their children die of Covid-19 than starvation.

We launched our emergency food appeal to provide food parcels to families.

We reached our target of £10,000 and delivered regularly throughout the pandemic to over 1,000 people, helping to prevent the long term effects of malnutrition.

Due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, we launched another emergency food appeal in June 2022, raising a further £5,000 to feed families and provide nutritious meals for our Rosie May Pre-School children, of which 80% were identified as malnourished.

The Gift of Education

During lockdown, schools were closed in Sri Lanka and Nepal for several months, leaving children without access to the internet and a limited opportunity to learn.

At Project Hope we strive to keep families together and empower children through education. Our back to school campaign provided children with a school bag containing stationery, textbooks, a lunch box, a water bottle and additional after school lessons to improve literacy and numeracy skills. It is vital for children to be able to access education and begin to close the gap.

Fantastic Fundraising

As a charity, we rely heavily on donations, sponsorship and fundraising events to fund our incredible projects and initiatives.

Vinnie's Story

6 year old Vinnie made an obstacle course in his back garden during lockdown after reading about the Rosie May Foundation in his school newsletter.

He did 26 exercises, each lasting 26 seconds, and raised an amazing £182 for the charity!

Jonny's story

Jonny McPhee is a keen marathon runner, as well as a supporter of the Rosie May Foundation. So when the 2020 London Marathon was cancelled because of Covid 19, this did not stop our local hero running one in his home town of Melbourne in Derbyshire in aid of the charity.

Even in 2021 when Jonny reluctantly had to pull out of the race due to illness, he was determined not to miss an opportunity to raise money for us, and once again ran his own marathon when he had recovered.

In 2022, Jonny finally made it to the event and says he wants to run it again in 2023!

To date, Jonny has raised an incredible £12,000!

Our Awards During The Pandemic

Mary Storrie, CEO & Founder of the Rosie May Foundation, won the Pride of Britain Awards 2020 for Best Fundraiser in the East Midlands for her leadership in navigating her team through the pandemic.

Volunteer Phil Drabble trained other volunteers to drive Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk and visited many schools as Tuk Tuk Santa. He was awarded the Civic Award by Bingham Town Council.

The Rosie May Foundation was awarded Volunteer of the Year 2021 in recognition of the many hours of tireless work and doorstep chats carried out by volunteers in our local community.

L i f e A f t e r L o c k d o w n

Our work post pandemic continues and mitigating the devastating impact of lockdown is now our mission. For our later life communities, we are confronting the serious issue of chronic loneliness and social isolation. For vulnerable families we are tackling the very real issue of food insecurity and for children and young people we are providing opportunities to reduce anxiety.

Lidl food collection

Our local Lidl in Bingham has chosen us as their charity partner through Neighbourly to help tackle food waste and food poverty in our community.

Each week we collect the store's surplus food, as well items generously donated by shoppers.

Rosie the Little Pink Tuk Tuk then delivers these groceries to local schools who have identified families needing additional food support due to the cost of living crisis.

Our Impact

Social tables

We are creating social tables at local cafes, encouraging people to meet up for a coffee and a chat with others in a similar situation.

School visits

Now that we’re allowed back into schools, our visits are more important than ever.

With a focus on promoting well being and positive mental health, we are excited to be able to take our fleet of Pink Tuk Tuks to schools and offer themed events as well as fun, educational packages to foster learning through social interaction and engagement.

Confronting loneliness and social anxiety by re connecting and re engaging local communities through friendship Reducing food waste by distributing to schools to provide food security for families

Promoting positive mental health and well being in young people through fun, engaging and educational activities

Meet The Rosie May Team

Our fabulous new team remain committed to working alongside our partners to ensure that everything we do at the Rosie May Foundation continues to be of value and accessible to the communities we serve.

We pride ourselves on doing whatever we can to help and are always open to suggestions!

"We couldn’t have achieved any of this without the help of our amazing volunteers. We thank each and every one of them, past and present, who have given their time and energy to ensure the Rosie May Foundation achieves its goal of improving the lives of thousands of families both here and overseas."

Emma Clarkson, Fundraising Manager

Melissa, university student

Polly, primary school teacher

O u r v o l u n t e e r s

We’re always on the lookout for more people to join our team of volunteers, so do get in touch if you’d like to get involved!

“I feel privileged to be a part of a team that is supporting women and families across the globe. Volunteering not only gives me valuable experience, but also shapes my view on the world around me.”

“Volunteering for the Rosie May Foundation is very rewarding. I get an enormous sense of pride helping others and know I'm making a real difference to people's lives in the local community.”

M e e t R u b y

Rosie became such an iconic symbol of hope during the pandemic that we wanted to reach out to other communities to promote cheerfulness and connect more people. But Rosie couldn’t do it on her own, she needed help!

Thanks to the BNA Foundation, Ruby, our new electric Tuk Tuk, helps us to reach more vulnerable people in Newark and Nottinghamshire. We aim to tackle post lockdown anxiety by reconnecting socially isolated people in our local community through friendship.

Kindly donated and converted especially for the Rosie May Foundation by Tuk Tuk UK, with funding from the National Lottery and Nottinghamshire County Council, Roxy, our glorious Pink Tuk Box, is a mobile coffee bar with a dual purpose.

This open access mobile coffee bar offers people the space to reconnect with others by having a regular chat with a free cup of coffee or even a cup of our unique pink tea!

Making a positive difference to local people, Roxy aims to reduce chronic loneliness and social anxiety by reuniting individuals through friendship and reigniting communities.

Roxy is also available to hire for events and private parties, providing a new revenue stream to support the foundation.

To hire Roxy, Rosie or Ruby, email pinktuktuks@rosiemay.com

.

Think Pink - Driving for Change

Did you know that less than 2% of taxi drivers in the UK are women?

We have launched Think Pink, a not for profit entity, led by a team of professionals in the taxi industry, who are giving their valuable time pro bono, to help us address this issue and the current shortage of drivers post pandemic.

The Think Pink Drivers Alliance has been created to support women taxi and private hire drivers through mentoring and meaningful training, and to nurture a community of women drivers who support each other through friendship.

We have partnered with a local fleet, DG Cars in Nottingham, to promote the opportunity for flexible, well paid work for women drivers, as well as to give women the choice to book a cab driven by a female.

On successful conclusion of this pilot, we plan to roll out Think Pink across other major UK cities.

“It has always been my dream to bring Think Pink Sri Lanka to the UK and what better place to start than in my home town of Nottingham. Our experience from Sri Lanka, where we train women to drive pink tuk tuks as taxis, is valuable and relevant because the opportunity and need for Think Pink is universal.”

Mary Storrie, CEO & Founder of the Rosie May Foundation

Thank you for your support!

Our impact is only possible because of you!

ALBNottingham

AlbanyJuniorSchool

AlexandraWorkwear

AlyGreenwayWorkplaceTraining

AmazonSmile

AnnEtVin

ArchbishopCranmerAcademy

ArnoldViewPrimarySchool

AshAccountants

BakeaWish

BBCRadioDerby

BBCEastMidlandsToday

BBCRadioNottingham

BeanBlockCafé

BelvoirCastle

BelvoirValeRotaryClub

BinghamCricketClub

BinghamFishandChips

BinghamPharmacy

BNAFoundation

CarnarvonPrimarySchool

CarolynDeacock,Make upArtist

CeylonTeeCo

CherizenaCoffee

Co opRadcliffe on Trent

CoddingtonPrimarySchool

ColombostreetUK

Cooks&Company

Copper,Bingham

CouncilorKeithGirling

CotgraveCofEPrimarySchool

CotgraveCommunityKitchen

DalestorthPrimarySchool

DerbySoroptimists

Dizzywear

EastMidlandsProperty&Business Show

EatonPlaceFishBar

EngineYard,Belvoir

FHPPropertyConsultants

FilltheGapMarketing

GunthorpePrimarySchool

HammondsPropertyServices

HarperRecruitmentGroup

HealdswoodSchool HeatherHiggs

HMCIndependentSchool, Nottingham

ITVCentralNews

JudithBoyd

JudyFishel

KPMG,EastMidlands KestevenGirlsGrammarSchool

KewClinic

KinoultonPrimarySchool LadramBay

LangarPrimaryAcademy

LauraMulley

LeicesterCityWomen LidlBingham

MercureLeicester,TheGrand Molly’sSnackShop

MonkeyBusinessPodcast

MusicalTheatreHigh

NewarkRotaryClub

NewarkTownHall

NottinghamshireCountyCouncil

NottinghamshireFireandRescue NottsTV

NottinghamHighSchool

NumberSixteen,Bingham OvyDesign

PaulMartynMusic

PierrepointGamstonPrimary School

PrideofBritainAwards2020

PrimePerformancePhysio Pygott&Crone

Radcliffe on TrentInfantand NurserySchool

RobertMilesInfantSchool

RobertMilesJuniorSchool

RushcliffeAwards

RushcliffeBoroughCouncil RyleyWealthManagement StPetersAcademy StarTrust

StarnhillStudios StoweFamilyLaw

TheCakeDecoratingCo

TheElmsPre School&Junior School TheGoodScribe

TheLilyPadComplementary Therapy

TheNationalLotteryCommunity Fund

TheTallulahTalksPodcast

TheTeaGarden,Bingham

Townmayorcouncillor,LisaGeary

TradeFreightInternationalLimited TravelteerUK

Tree,Newark

TrentCollege TukTukUK

UniversityRadioNottingham VivahFashion

WatersideCalligraphy YeungSing ZenFitHealth

Our Partners

The University of Nottingham Nottingham Trent University

Travelteer and Travelteer Impact Colombo Street Nottingham Lidl, Bingham, Nottingham KPMG, Nottingham Nelsons, Nottingham

Invictus Communications, Derby

Brewin Dolphin Wealth Management, Nottingham

Hope & Homes for Children

Imperial College, London, Sri Lankan Society SAHAS Nepal ASHA Nepal

Our Patrons

Emma Rutland, Duchess of Rutland

Justin Excell, Managing Director Swiss Re

Geeta Pendse, Broadcaster/Journalist

Charlotte Gordon, West End Theatre Actress

Our Trustees

Neil Price (Chair)

Graham Storrie

Helen Wells

Jane Bungay

John Elliott Sam Ellis Daksha Patel