We were about six weeks into lockdown in 2020 and i was really missing my grandchildren . I had not seen them since October 2019 and i was in a dark place mentally . I went into my garage and found two jars from my sons weddIng in 2014 and they made me smile for the first time in weeks . I quickly realised that if a jar with a beautiful memory could make me smile what would a beautifully decorated jar filled with beautiful memories do to help me to step into joy when i needed it and i really needed it . I also realised i could not be the only person who was feeling this way and my mission to have a million jars of joy around the world began.
Myself and Sparkly Margaret as she is now named by our members started a facebook group a twitter account and an instagram account .and clubhouse club We went live daily on these various platforms providing joy and positivity at a time when there was little to celebrate .
Our conscious community of joy has grown virtually to over 4500 worldwide and we still post daily in our facebook group which has over 1200 members all free of charge as we truly believe that money should not be a barrier to accessing a service you need .
As soon as we were able we delivered in person workshops in our community free at the point of delivery and in fact mostly at our own cost these were well received and of benefit to each participant .
I began to realise from my background as a health professional of over 35 years that if we became a non for profit organisation we could continue to deliver workshops events and coaching to those who need it but could not afford to pay. Our Journey to becoming a CIC was far from smooth but I truly believe we all need joy in our life every single day and so have been persistent in pursuit of being a NON for profit organisation.
We have worked in partnership with Healthier Fleetwood and LCC at an event this year to address loneliness .
We have supported the Festive Lights Committee in Fleetwood initially at our own cost and later with materials paid for to make lanterns of joy with over 300 children the last two years .
We have supported fundraising events for the mayor of Wyre again at our own cost of materials and time making jars of joy with families .
We truly believe that our workshops make a difference to health and wellbeing to each participant at whatever age they are . We have some great feedback and support from many health professionals in our locality and beyond .
