Jess Harris

I'm fundraising for...

Thank you for visiting my page!! As many of you will know, this is my fifth Quintessentially Foundation Charity Cycle Ride event, and as ever, the route will be tough, but the causes remain vital - all contributions will be immensely appreciated!! 

The Challenge:

From 4th-8th June, 2025, I will spend four grueling days cycling 500km whilst climbing over 4000m of elevation, from the East to West coast of Scotland, raising vital funds for Quintessentially Foundation’s flagship programme, ‘The Firefly Project’. 

The Cause:

In London, it is estimated that 40% of children and young people living in poverty, all of whom face challenges preventing them from reaching their fullest potential. Yet there are small frontline organisations that offer proven solutions but are unfortunately underfunded, have limited resources and no way of building a network to help support them on a wider scale. 80% of charitable donations continue to be provided to just 5% of charities, but with the right support, it is often the smaller organisations that can make a much bigger impact. Quintessentially Foundation identifies, funds, and supports these charities and helps them to truly make a difference.

Through ‘The Firefly Project’, the Quintessentially Foundation helps scale their charity partners’ successful interventions by providing the charities with:
* Unrestricted funding - so that the charities can invest in increasing their internal capacity and prepare for growth.
* Tailored organisational support – ensuring they develop the proper infrastructure for their model to increase the number of young people they support and optimise the quality of their impact.
* Untapped networks and connections – so that they can have more supporters amplifying their cause and, most notably so that they can continue to grow sustainably once our funding ends.

Currently the project has five incredible partner charities (three of which I have personally had the opportunity to work with or volunteer for already) - Little Village, The Kids Network, 2020 Change, Doorstep Library and Team Up.

The impact over the first two years of ‘The Firefly Project’ has been incredible; beyond the funding provided, 53 new jobs were created, resulting in 15% growth in beneficiary numbers, 1974 volunteers engaged and our charity partners' average turnover increased by 57% since 2022. In 2023, for every £1 granted, we connected our charity partners to an additional 95p, securing an additional £275,000 for our charities.

Any donations that you might be able to make are immensely appreciated!!