26th of March, 2021
Karen Askew and her son Cole Askew are part of the family-led house building company, Freedom Built. In 2019, Cole had an idea – a way he could take the business and use it to support children and young people in need. That’s how The Launch Foundation came to be.
Using their building experience and network of industry contacts, they started work on a new home build, with the intention of giving every dollar raised from it to charities supporting children and young people.
“The Launch Foundation fund is used to encourage, support, and empower at risk children in Canterbury, suffering from the effects of abandonment, abuse, crime, poverty and illness. We know many of these issues are cyclical, going back generations, and strongly believe the best way to fight them going forward is by empowering our children.”
Cole and Karen felt that Aviva really aligned with the Foundation’s goals, because of our efforts to break the cycle of violence, by providing early intervention and education to children and youth. We were thrilled when the Launch Foundation chose Aviva as one of the charities to partner with.
The Askews’ passion and enthusiasm for the cause spread as various construction companies jumped on board to offer their materials and services at heavily discounted rates; from laying the foundations, to putting up frames, installing a roof, providing the electrical work, and even offering waste disposal for the build site. Everyone recognised that every dollar saved on the build could be used to help a child in need.
The build was recently sold and is nearing completion within the coming weeks. Freedom Built aims to complete one such project a year, with the goal of all profits from the sale supporting tamariki and youth. How amazing that buying a home can directly help young people in Canterbury to feel safe in their own home!
The funds will be used to develop a school-based healthy relationship programme, and to create a bursary fund to support children who have experienced family violence to have positive experiences.
To find out more about The Launch Foundation, go to facebook.com/thelaunchfoundation.