Many charities are finding times tough during lockdown and for Julianne Kelly this is a special worry.

That is because Julianne looks after not just one charity but several.

She is the founder and director of Together We Can, an umbrella charity looking after charities which look after the homeless, young people, victims of domestic violence and more.

“We are working hard but it is not just me. I have my colleagues Joy and Tom and a whole host of volunteers.”

There job is to keep their charities in the public eye and look at ways of continuing fundraising at a time when their major money-making events have been cancelled.

Julianne, 43, moved from Whitehaven to Whitby in 2001.

She returned to Whitehaven due to family illness. By then she was working as a fundraiser for Newcastle-based The Chronicle Sunshine Fund, which provided specialist equipment for children with disabilities.

The commute was becoming difficult until she had her light bulb moment - during a fundraising trek to the Grand Canyon with a large group of women.

“I came up with the idea of using my fundraising experience to help charities in Cumbria, so when I got back from the trek I started to plan the business and I contacted a few friends in the area to see if they were interested in support with their fundraising, at the time offering support with Trust Fundraising, where you apply to funders for grants."

The response was more than she could have hoped for and - at the moment - more challenging that she would have wished for.

But she carries on with the determination that has made her the person of the week.

Julianne left school at 16 with “very average” grades and for many years sang in pubs and clubs.

“ I am still in a band with local musicians, I am in a band called Delorean, which I love and really missing with lockdown!”

Her singing is good but it is obvious that her vocation is definitely to help charitable causes.

Anyone interested in helping Together We Can contact us – admin@togetherwecanfundraising.co.uk – 07722589859

It is affecting all my clients in different ways, see info below:

The Solway Hall - closed in March 2020, because they are not a front-line charity dealing with Covid-19, we cannot apply for funding. They have lost so much income as events, parties and weddings have all been cancelled. It is run by volunteers and its so upsetting to see all the work they have achieved since opening in 2015. We have launched a campaign called The Show Must Go On to let people know that they are still here!

Rosehill Youth Theatre - closed in March 2020 and they have moved all their rehearsals online, they are doing really well, and the children are loving it!

Women Out West - closed the services on Kells in March 2020, they have moved all their services online which we still need funding for, especially for ipads for the women so they can access support online. They have seen an increase in women needing support.

Always Another Way - closed their hub in March 2020, they have moved all their services online, which we still need funding for, they have a waiting list at the moment of people affected by mental health difficulties which has been accelerated by Covid-19.

Whitehaven Community Trust - they have kept both hostels open throughout the outbreak, supporting 15 young people and their children, because they are in the hostels 24/7, they need funding for extra support workers. Before lockdown, the young people would be at college or on work placements, now they are in the hostels full time.

Safety Net (UK) - they closed their main office in Carlisle in March 2020 and have moved all their services online, again, they need funding to continue with this. They are working really hard to support people at this time and have had waiting lists.

West Cumbria Domestic Violence Support - they closed their office in March 2020 and moved all their services online, they have had waiting lists and increase with male victims and increase in perpetrators needing support. We need funding to continue with this.

Calderwood House – they have kept the hostel open throughout the outbreak of Covid-19 and are full to capacity, they needed emergency funding for extra staff in April 2020 due to staff showing symptoms of the virus and been unwell. Now we need funding for general running costs.

Blue Sky Trust – I also personally run support services for people living with HIV in Cumbria, again, the impact of Covid-19 has impacted on a lot of people due to isolation and social distancing and people are really struggling.

You’ve obviously been working hard throughout. How do you motivate people to keep helping?

The whole team have been working really hard, there is myself, Joy and Tom and we have a large team of volunteers who are friends and family that support us with everything that we do. Its been really difficult as our clients rely on us to bring funding in so they can continue to provide services for people in our community. With the outbreak of Covid-19, this has just made things even busier for us, it is quite stressful.

We are actively asking people in the community to fundraise for our clients and we ask if anyone who wants to make a donation, to contact us and we can arrange that. It is really difficult at the moment, as donations has decreased as people just can not afford to support charities if they have been furloughed.

We have had some great support from local funders such as Cumbria Community Foundation and many others, but we always need funding to continue with our projects. If you can help in any way, please contact us – admin@togetherwecanfundraising.co.uk – 07722589859.