Want to hear more from Jeff? Every Friday, he shares a blog packed with stories, insights, and all the incredible things happening here at Bigmoose over the week. It’s a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the impact we’re making together, the lives we’re changing, and the big dreams we’re chasing.
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hello bigmoose blog reader,
this week chloe and i had a call with the directors of our main charity funders from the united states, via zoom to discuss our milestones we want to aim for in 2025, and to say the nerves were jangling is an understatement.
these funders, two years ago, agreed to fund us to the tune of £598,000 annually, index linked for five years.
that will be over three million pounds.
so you can imagine how heightened your senses get before such a call.
twitchy bum time ;P
we are so responsible.
we have to get this stuff right, as the immediate financial future depends on it, and the ability to pay the bills to pay for the care that bigmoose offers, free of charge, is paramount.
but we like pressure.
pressure is privilege.
not by any means in a cocky way, but in a way that i know that chloe and i thrive on.
and the adrenaline was definitely coursing through my veins before the call started.
our story with these funders starts back nearly three years ago, when we took on our first ever member of staff, the wonderful grace.
grace worked with us, and saw and shared our vision, returning home regaling bigmoose stories of dreams and aspirations to her mum.
after a period of time, her mum had a life changing idea.
she should speak to her brother in law, who manages wealthy philanthropists money, and see if there could be any funding available for bigmoose.
she did, and there was.
grace’s uncle, who lives abroad flew in to meet chloe and i, and the following six months were spent being interviewed by two renowned psychologists who flew from america to also interview us, all whilst chloe travelled her journey towards kidney transplant, and i hid my parkinson’s.
both parties did due diligence on each other, and we had to sign an nda (non disclosure agreement) the pressure was very real, and all the time we were sworn to secrecy.
it actually felt like a dream, almost too good to be true, surely the working class lad from finsbury park didn’t have this kind of thing happen to him, but sometimes the universe has a plan.
the very long due diligence process seemed to go on for ages, and even when all the t’s were crossed and i’s dotted, there was still a part of me that didn’t believe we could make this dream a reality.
but the day came, and the first annual payment was deposited, and chloe and i whooped with excitement, and as i write this i am still amazed that this story has happened, and i remember telling a friend that we had something so big about to happen, bigger than summiting everest, and i stand by that, as the impact this funding has had is saving peoples lives, which is way bigger than any mountain.
so, with such great funding comes great responsibility.
but chloe and i take our responsibility extremely seriously, and work very diligently to do our best to steward this charity, and it’s funding, wisely, efficiently, and always in the interests of the people we serve.
wow, that got very serious very quickly ;P
but this is serious shizzle right?
as we discussed the aforementioned milestones on the call, we referenced our growth in referrals per month of over 1000% since january 2022, and the fact that we are still hitting our goals of returning contact to every referral within 24 hours, and setting up a meeting, either face to face or online with one of our therapists within a week, lofty goals, but we believe this gives hope to everyone that needs it.
we also discussed the fact that 100% of our graduates would recommend us, which is a pretty brilliant number to be posting.
it was great to unwrap some of the results of the funders investment, and there is one more mammoth number we discussed with them, which i’ll share with you soon, but the feeling that we got as we got off the call was one of enthusiasm, and positivity, which was awesome, and made us smile in a way that sometimes reflection allows you to feel, and whilst there is the aforementioned pressure, the privilege is the reward that pressure brings, if that makes sense?
long may it continue.
so that’s all for now, and to summarise, sometimes you need that break, but if you dream big, and truly believe, sometimes dreams really can come true, so don’t ever stop dreaming.
till next week,
blue. skies,
jeff
