This group is just that… a wonderful bunch of friends, volunteers, parents, and siblings; who joyfully give of their time to host fundraising initiatives purely out of love for the intellectually impaired adult Sunfield residents.
FOSHIM evolved in mid-2016 when the previous FOS (Friends of Sunfield Home) felt it was time to hand over the reins after many years of dedication to the well-being of Sunfield residents.
FOSHIM began with a membership of just eight and has grown to over 30 members, half of whom are volunteers from the local community. The balance of the FOSHIM members are family members of Sunfield residents, with the main aim being to raise much-needed funds to assist Sunfield Home with providing our intellectually impaired adult residents with various ongoing needs. While things like regular horse riding lessons are kindly sponsored by Riding for the Disabled, the specialist transport required to get Ressies there and back needed to be covered. FOSHIM willingly came to the fore and generated the funds required.
FOSHIM have also helped Sunfield Home Ressies enjoy fun-filled Christmas parties for the residents; costume outfits for their annual public concerts; holiday program outings for Sunfield residents that stay at the Home during school holidays and, gratefully, various “Wish List” items for equipment needed in the various OT departments.
In 2017 it was identified that a wheelchair-friendly vehicle was needed to transport our wheelchair-bound residents. This would enable the Home to include them on excursions and also make transportation to medical facilities a lot more manageable and comfortable, for both residents and staff.
The first ‘big’ Fund Raising initiative was the Golf Day at Howick Golf Club in 2017. The success of the FOSHIM Golf Day saw them hosting it again in 2018. By this time the FOSHIM member numbers had grown, thus fundraising events grew and included another FOSHIM Golf Day in 2019 which was coupled with an action-packed, hilariously funny “Auction”.
Other FOSHIM fundraising events have included: High Teas fit for the Queen, a fabulous Potjie Competition highlighting the culinary expertise of locals and the amazing ‘Evening with Elvis’ – a most memorable dinner-music experience. And, we mustn’t forget, every year-end, hosting the Four Nights of Christmas Lights display, which is open to the public. Always so pretty and magical at that time of year!
In between events, FOSHIM’s dedicated volunteers – affectionately known as “The Pink Ladies” due to their definitive pink FOSHIM shirts, have catered at numerous markets selling bacon and egg rolls and pancakes. The smiling Pink Ladies can always be seen scattered around Sunfield’s annual May Fair working hard towards the common goal of making this Fair a success.
Covid hasn’t been kind to so many, FOSHIM included. Their 2020 fundraising and event plans were all prepared and it was looking brilliant. The very next month we all found ourselves in hard lockdown! All plans for the entire year went out the door, until further notice, it was horrible.
2021 saw us adjusting to a new normal but now with growing anticipation of new beginnings and new opportunities, FOSHIM is hopeful to start getting back to business again in 2022.
Watch this space and follow this link to our Get Involved and Donation pages to help us in our continued efforts. Every little bit helps.
