Vinters Park Crem donates £11,600 to Family Forever JP
The donation amount allowed the charity to achieve its goal of purchasing a holiday caravan for families with seriously ill children to create special memories
Vinters Park Crematorium has made a £11,600 donation to a local Maidstone charity, Family Forever JP, which helps families of seriously ill children create special memories on caravan holidays.
The donation amount, which allowed the charity to achieve its goal of purchasing a holiday caravan, was raised through Maidstone Borough Council’s Crematorium Metal Recycling Scheme.
With written consent from bereaved families, Vinters Park Crematorium collects metals left over from cremation to either recycle or repurpose for the production of new orthopaedic implants.
Family Forever JP was founded by Hayley and Steve Powell in memory of their son Jayden, who sadly died from an aggressive brain tumour aged 17 on 16 August 2018. The couple relaunched their charity in 2022 after the initial launch in 2019 was halted by the pandemic.
The charity supports critically sick children and young adults through a focus on the whole family to make “precious, everlasting” memories.
With the charity’s new static caravan, it is now able to take bookings for three months at a time starting March, April and May.
Hayley Powell said: “We are simply speechless. As a small charity we do all our own fund raising and we solely rely on the help of volunteers and the kind people who make donations. For us to raise this amount would have taken us a whole year.
“From the bottom of our hearts thank you to all the bereaved families, Maidstone Crematorium and everyone else involved in the scheme. Our next project is to purchase a chalet so we can adapt it for wheelchair and disabled access.”
Cllr Clive English, cabinet member for environmental services at Maidstone Borough Council, added: “Once again, we are amazed by the generosity of the bereaved families who choose to donate the medical implants from their loved ones’ ashes. It’s wonderful that their choice at such a sad time can be turned into a positive, making a huge impact on the families of the charities supported by this scheme.
“We are delighted to have been able to help Family Forever JP to achieve their goal of purchasing a caravan and hope it helps many families to create treasured memories.”
