A survey was conducted by the Small Charities Coalition this week and the results showed that only 20% of charities will be able to provide a normal service during the corona virus pandemic.

For us, we have had to temporarily withdraw from hospitals and schools and visits to families are understandably postponed, so the day to day work of the organisation needs to change. This week we launched our Virtual Support Model, to ensure we continue to support families when they need us most.

Then there is the impact on fundraising, we started this year with a very full calendar of fantastic fundraising events, many of which are under question now. Our supporters are doing their best to reschedule events for later in the year, we have also had to postpone our Conference and our Sports Lunch, both of which generate a lot of income for the organisation. And it’s not just us, an article appeared in the Guardian Newspaper this week that said losses are likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said at the weekend charities would “need to be part of the national effort to support the shielded”, along with government, local councils, and friends and neighbours.

The article in the Guardian Newspaper continues “about half of the biggest 25 UK charity-owned fundraising events – which between them raised more than £133m in 2018 – involve the mobilisation of thousands of sponsored participants in runs, walks and cycle rides, with medical research and health charities among the principal beneficiaries”.

Smaller events are a source of steady income for many charities, Child Brain Injury Trust included, with the cancellation of coffee mornings, dinners and quizzes across the country.

We are ensuring we continue to support the families, and to look at new and innovative ways that we can do that. In turn we need our supporters to think about how they might still be able to help us, if you are now homeworking and no longer treat yourself to a coffee and a croissant on the way to the office – how about donating that amount to charity? These relatively small amounts can add up to a big difference for us.

In such uncertain times we aim to provide the same fantastic level of support to the families, but in order to continue to build a brighter future we need a little help from our friends. You can make a donation via the appropriate section of our website here.

Lisa Turan

CEO