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Impact Report 2025 and Strategic Plan 2026-2029

Balloons reviews its support for bereaved children and young people during 2025 and its plans for 2026-29. It supported 585 children and young people, delivered 517 one-to-one grief-support sessions for 153 children and young people, and received over 2,000 volunteer hours.

Report snapshot
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About

A Devon charity providing grief support for children and young people affected by bereavement.

Key Metrics

Children supported 585 children and young people were supported by Balloons during 2025.

Key Outcomes

  • One-to-one grief support, group work and activity days gave bereaved children and young people space to process loss and connect with others.

Geography

South West

Impact Snapshot
568,000
babies reached by Bookstart Baby in 2025/26 (93% of all babies born)
Over 1.1 million
children and families engaged with Bookstart programmes in 2025/26
80%
of parents and carers receiving Bookstart Baby say they now read or share books and stories more with their child
445,600 children aged 1-4 reached through Bookstart Toddler and Pre-schooler, including 37% of all 1-4-year-olds living in low-income households
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
440,000+ young people aged 4-18 active members across 7,000 Groups
Key Metric 2
140,000 volunteers supporting the movement across the UK
Key Metric 3
373 Sections opened or re-energised in England between April 2024 and March 2025
0.3% overall growth in young people (ages 4-18), driven by 31% increase in Squirrel Scouts (5,200 young people)
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
55,000 foster carers and 370 fostering service providers as members across the UK
Key Metric 2
45 new Fostering Friendly Employers recruited, bringing the scheme to over 680,000 employees across the UK
Key Metric 3
95 Fostering Wellbeing Pioneers in Wales offering peer support and mentoring to fellow foster carers
191 children and young people engaged in outdoor adventure weeks through the Fostering Attainment and Achievement programme in Northern Ireland
Impact Snapshot
Young people mentored
Provided more 1:1 mentoring sessions than ever before, an 18% increase on last year, supporting over 1,000 young people, with students rating mentoring 9...
39% of students reported an increase in how they felt over the past month, 38% rated their social interactions more positive after mentoring, and 30% felt more comfortable in lessons.