how volunteer support has grown wee seeds
by Wee Seeds Founder Christina Cran
To do this I’m going to have to admit something. We are a tiny team with very little cash. There I said it! It feels weird as it’s not something I hear people admitting. As a start-up there’s always a desire to portray yourself as bigger than you are. As a PR professional I definitely know there’s a need to put a spit and polish on stuff! But in our #NewNormal I’m testing out a new coat: honesty.
So, in that vein, in all honesty, we’re a small team of volunteers, with a big dream. It has been my enduring vision for four years now: to bring mindfulness into the lives of early years children and their families. Against a backdrop of a growing mental health crisis in young people, this vision was driven by a desire to promote positive mental health as an early intervention and prevention. It still is all of that. But it’s also evolved as we have grown and learned, driven by user feedback and parent’s needs. Nurturing parent and child connection, upskilling parents and professionals, and ensuring access to mindfulness is equitable through our Buy One, Give One away programme, have all emerged as fundamentally important.
We launched our first stage Digital Toolbox — weeseeds.co.uk — to the public last October and to my mind had a clear path to growth planned out. Now, with an uncertainty all around us, and in light of our learnings, we’ll be spending the next few months putting our purpose and vision under the microscope to see what the future holds for us, and those we want to support.
And we do all this as volunteers.
When I first had the idea for Wee Seeds there was nothing available specifically for preschool kids. Luckily we were able to test the idea with seed-funding from a philanthropic body, and UnLtd Scotland. The incredible donations of supporters through crowdfunding, and grant funding from Scottish Enterprise, enabled us to build that first stage Digital Toolbox of mindfulness for preschoolers.
Since then we’ve sought finances to grow. We have looked left, right, and centre, searched under that mysterious tech start-up rock, been on investment courses, got to the final of this, and the last stage of that. But so far, growth funding has remained elusive. Why, when the evidence is clear? I ask myself this daily.
So, this has meant that despite constant praise for the idea, and support ‘in principle’ that we have no money to support our growth. An age-old start-up Catch 22!
Most of what you see: our Digital Toolbox of mindfulness games-based, portable exercises for pre-schoolers and the early years, all our social media activity, downloadable calendars and challenges, all the newsletters, and blogs that go out. These are all brought to life with the amazing support of our volunteers, who dedicate hours and hours and hours of their own time to help make our vision a reality.
So I’m here — as part of Volunteers Week — to thank them for everything they have given. For every minute of their time. For their belief in the need to plant the seeds of mindfulness in the early years. For believing in my vision to embed positive mental health training in our littlest people. For standing by me.
We have received an incredible amount of support — and a full list of those who have supported Wee Seeds can be found here https://www.weeseeds.co.uk/what-why. From the absolutely amazing Lorna, who voices two of our exercises, whose guidance and support has given me strength in ways she can’t ever really know. To my wonderful pal Rhona who found the space to write our yoga scripts. My friend Matt who gave up his time to work on sound and record audio. To Vee, whose initial belief in my idea was a driver to it becoming a reality. The amazing Louise who helped make the first beta. Demi and Jennifer who have given hours to do social media posts. Our latest recruit Hannah, who is helping with our impact assessment. The lovely Veronica for sharing her expertise. Julie, the numerical whizz, who has saved from the depths of despair on many an occasions! The students from Fresh Sight, and Mastercard Foundation!
All volunteers who believed.
You are all amazing.
I’d like though to give special mention to Zoe King, whose persistent work behind the scenes during the summer last year, and since then, has meant we’ve been able to take leaps and bounds forward that simply would not have been possible had I been alone. I think there’s times in your life where you find people who are gold dust. We sparkle because of the efforts she puts in, silently, quietly, challenging, behind the scenes.
Also too to Sydney Franks, who has spent many an evening, late into the night working to perfect Instagram stories, and social media posts, and whose true belief in Wee Seeds shines though in every piece of work she delivers.
Without these people, and many others, we would not be increasingly in a position of strength to bring our vision into a reality. From small seeds grow strong trees, ready to spread their roots. We just need to plant a money tree now.
