BEFORE I can even begin to speak with Paula Stubbs as she works away at her base at Colchester Foodbank, there is an eruption of raucous laughter.

“Hang on, Lewis, Jenny has just spilled a load of beads everywhere,” she says, amid cackles echoing in the background.

“Nothing goes to waste here, she’s just picking them all back up off the floor now.”

And she’s not wrong - quite literally everything gets poured into her work, and there’s not a shortage of love and passion thrown in either.

Creating arts and crafts packs for struggling families has been something Paula has devoted her life to since March 2020, when she founded Re:Focus.

She felt she just had to do something to help people as the world plunged into the real severity and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“My husband Des and I saw a huge need to help children and families adversely affected by the pandemic,” she explained.

“I was training as a therapist at the time and I said to Des how all the children who had to stop going to school will now have nothing to occupy themselves with.

“I was worried about their mental health and how all the change would impact them.

“We had loads of bits sitting around the house and so I put something out on Facebook asking if anyone would like a free craft activity bag and it went from there.

“With the operation being expanded, well, our front room just wasn’t big enough.”

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Now based at Colchester Foodbank, in Tollgate Shopping Village, Paula works alongside fellow kind-hearted volunteers Jenny, Catherine, Aitch and Ben.

They spend hour upon hour creating packs filled with DVDs, cuddly items, crafts, colouring sheets and stationary.

Re:Focus arts at Colchester Foodbank

Re:Focus arts at Colchester Foodbank

Paula estimates more than 3,000 packs have been distributed since March last year, but she insists she has lost count of the true number.

The focus on Christmas packs is already well underway for the group, with bells, stars and polypockets brimming with festive creativities to help ensure every family can have their share of Christmas magic.

“They can take quite a lot of time,” said Paula. “We started preparing for Christmas back in September.

“There is a lot in there, but what I really dream of giving everyone is a little cuddly item to keep close at night.

“I don’t care what age you are, it’s a real comfort thing even as an adult. Sometimes you need that if you’re having a tough time.”

Trying to remedy the challenges people are facing everyday is at the very core of what Re:Focus is trying to achieve.

Paula truly believes arts and crafts can be the key to unlocking happiness in people’s lives - it’s why her and the team strive to make every pack as perfect as possible.

“Every time I walk into our base I think how lovely and shiny and glittery it is and I want to transfer this to our packs,” added Paula.

“The pandemic has completely exasperated so many children’s mental health and wellbeing.

“Even for me, doing this has a focus to keep the bad thoughts away.

“Everybody has trauma in their lives and if the bags give them five minutes of peace and quiet, to hide under the duvet and eat a bag of chocolate, then it’s a welcome distraction.

“Children are suddenly expected to go back to normal but the truth is there is a different normal now and we need to adapt to this.

“It makes me emotional to think our little group can help people, that’s all we want to do.

“We are given these things by such generous donations and we aim to get them out the door to people who will love and appreciate them.”