A Van For Frank - Driving It Forward
Frank Charles is a pillar of the Waltham Forest community. If you live in the area, chances are you've heard of Frank and the incredibly vital work he does through his charity, Frank Charles Give A Gift Appeal, and its subsidiary programme, Feed The Streetz. Frank's story is a humbling one, and the work he does to support the local community in multifaceted ways is even more humbling.
Frank runs a food bank out of his spare room, supporting Waltham Forest, Newham and surrounding areas. He collects donations and distributes them himself, using his own car, to those that desperately need them and often have nowhere else to turn. Due to the pandemic, and with the impending end of furlough, Frank is supporting more and more people with food, clothes, furniture and other basic yet vital items than ever before, and needs a van to be able to distribute these.
This is just the tip of Frank's work, and supporting him by raising money for a van is just one small way we can bring the community together to help both Frank, and the families and individuals that he supports in our area.
In June this year, Frank was awarded a British Empire Medal for his services to Newham during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frank was also selected as an Olympic Torch bearer in 2012 because of his dedicated charity work.
Please read Frank's story below, and help support and share this campaign as far and wide as possible.
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Frank's Story
Hi! My name is Frank Charles and I'm the founder of the Frank Charles Give A Gift Appeal. We are a registered charity that began by giving presents to sick children who are in hospital over the Christmas period.
I began FCGAGA in 2004 and it has been running every Christmas since then.
As a child I spent several years in Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and it was pretty miserable being in there over Christmas. Many years later my first son, Ashley, passed away from the same illness that had blighted my early childhood and it is in his memory that I decided to try and brighten the lives of children who were too ill to go home over the festive period.
In 2010 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and cancer of the bone marrow and one of the few remaining items on my bucket list is for FCGAGA to become a registered charity, which it now is, and to develop it into an all year round project giving to those in need through my Feed The Streetz programme, and to grant wishes to children and adults with life threatening illnesses. On 11th October 2018 my oncologist gave me the good news that my cancer is in complete remission after eight long years.
Thank you for all your incredible support.
Peace and blessings,
Frank Charles