The Benefact Charity Heroes Awards

"It was a fantastic experience and amazing to win £1000 pounds for Juvenile Arthritis Research as it means they can help more families with JIA," Abbie Chibnell-Smith. 

Juvenile Arthritis Research's very own Abbie Chibnell-Smith was recently selected as a finalist in the Benefact Group's Volunteer of the Year category of their inaugural Charity Heroes Awards. 

On Thursday, Abbie and her mum Sam headed to the Tower of London for the awards ceremony and for Abbie to receive this prestigious award. 

Abbie was the young person who came up with the idea of sending a support pack to children and young people diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), a condition she was diagnosed with when she was just a baby. 

She wanted to call these support packs "A Little Box of Hope" to reflect the importance of the difference it can make to a family to receive the support and help they need at a time like this. It's the difference between feeling worried and anxious about what the future holds or having the support, information and knowledge to be reassured that there is hope even when diagnosed with a lifelong condition such as JIA. 

Abbie and her mum Sam joined Juvenile Arthritis Research as volunteers to make these support resources a reality and they continue to send the packs out to every newly diagnosed child with JIA in the UK who needs one. 

"Abbie hand writes a personalised little note for every child to include in the Little Box of Hope pack and these mean a lot to each child that receives one. It means that they know they are not alone and that there is someone there who understands what they are going through," explains Richard Beesley, founder of Juvenile Arthritis Research. "We receive messages of thanks every week from families who are so grateful for the support they have received from Juvenile Arthritis Research and they often want to say thank you to Abbie for the difference she has made in their lives."

The Benefact Group  Charity Heroes Awards was the perfect opportunity for Abbie to receive the recognition she deserves and she was delighted to be selected as a finalist, knowing that winning £1000 for Juvenile Arthritis Research would mean that even more families can receive the support they need. "It was a fantastic experience and amazing to win £1000 pounds for Juvenile Arthritis Research as it means they can help more families with JIA," Abbie told us.

The awards ceremony was held at the Tower of London with "Dr of Happiness" Andy Cope compering the event. Historic Royal Palaces' Director of Public Engagement Tom O'Leary also gave an inspirational talk sharing some of the challenges they've faced as a charitable organisation themselves.  

It was an incredible day meeting so many real life superheroes making a difference to the lives of so many in a whole variety of fields in the charity sector. We are very grateful to all at Benefact Group for arranging the awards and the awards day as well as the life-changing work they do all year round by ploughing the proceeds from their business into charities and good causes. 

And of course a huge well done to our very own superhero Abbie who has helped to bring hope to hundreds of children with JIA.