Congratulations to Luke Lowrie, our Essex Activity Hero from Epping Forest. Read and be inspired by their story below: 

Luke Lowrie, director of Red Balloon Foundation in Loughton was nominated for the support they offered during lockdown for many families.

The Red Balloon Foundation is a registered charity that works to create opportunities for everyone to discover and become who they were designed to be. They work alongside a variety of partners to give children and young people the opportunity to unlock their passion, build aspiration and achieve potential.

Luke and his team carried this ethos throughout the pandemic by supporting hundreds of families by providing healthy food parcels and facilitating detached sports sessions for children in their local community. The Red Balloon Foundation helped to ensure families who were struggling had the chance to remain active and eat healthy. They wanted to help those working parents that needed childcare, working parents who were unable to access their normal childcare or struggling to source food or afford childcare.  The activities offered included tennis, football, badminton, craft sessions and sessions that focused on encouraging positive mental health.

One individual who nominated Luke and his team, said: “In each of these projects Red Balloon Foundation went above and beyond for families accessing support to ensure that the help they received was tailor made to the individuals who needed it.”

Congratulations to our Essex Activity Hero, Luke Lowrie and his team at Red Balloon Foundation for the support they offered families during this difficult year.

Thank you Epping Forest District Council for choosing this story!