Your guide to making a big difference to children with brain injury

Your guide to making a big difference to children with brain injury

Thank you! After Tommy s fall from a hotel balcony and months in hospitals, we came to The Children s Trust to begin his rehabilitation. I stayed with Tommy in the parents accommodation and I saw first-hand, the love and kindness the staff at The Children s Trust show for each child. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for them. Tommy still has his problems, but without the foundation to his recovery he received in those crucial first six months after injury, we would not have been where we are now. With intensive therapy, Tommy re-learnt how to walk and talk again. 2007 Tommy in therapy 2015 Tommy at Christmas Since leaving The Children s Trust s national specialist centre, we have enjoyed a close relationship with the fundraising team. They are genuinely interested in Tommy s progress and we enjoy staying in touch it means so much to us. It reminds me how important supporters like you are in making a difference in the lives of our children. When your child is being treated you aren t really aware of the fundraising and volunteers who take their time raising awareness and money for the Children s Trust. I m so grateful to volunteer fundraisers for the crucial part they ve played in Tommy s recovery. We carry the expertise and love of the professionals and staff at The Children s Trust every day and we could not have come this far without them. Nor without the statutory funding and voluntary donations that make it all possible. Thank you all! Tina Tommy s Mum 2 The Children s Trust

What we do The UK s leading charity for children with brain injury For many children and their families the work of The Children s Trust isn t just a huge help, it s a necessity. Our vision is for all children with brain injury to have the opportunity to live the best life possible. We d dearly love to help more of the 40,000 children each year who are left with brain injury as a result of an accident or illness but we can t do it without you. As well as the thousands of children we ve helped at our national specialist centre in Surrey, we aim to have Brain Injury Specialists in many more major paediatric trauma centres across the UK. Please help us raise the 8 million we need each year to go towards the wide range of rehabilitation and support services we provide. Our vision is for all children with brain injury to have the opportunity to live the best life possible. How we help Our national specialist centre Children come from all over the UK to our specialist centre in Tadworth, Surrey, for intensive brain injury rehabilitation, special education and nursing care. Each child is given a unique programme of care and therapy to help them get the most out of their stay here. All of the children require roundthe-clock medical care. We need your help to raise funds to help their rehabilitation and to keep improving our facilities. Specialists in the community Our Brain Injury Specialists work in children s hospitals in partnership with the NHS supporting children who have been admitted to hospital with a brain injury. This vital service reaches children who were previously discharged with little or no support and is a lifeline to their families, who often only identified problems after arriving home. Your donations will enable us to extend our community services and place more Brain Injury Specialists in children s hospitals across the UK. Support for families We know that children make the best progress when their families are supported. Our on-site accommodation is funded entirely by voluntary donations and enables parents to be involved in their child s rehabilitation. Our Brain Injury Hub website and award-winning books give parents vital information and advice and our forum provides an opportunity to share their experiences with others. Our information service is entirely funded by your donations. Fundraising Pack 3

You re making a huge difference to children like... Ethan Ethan was just seven years old when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was at The Children s Trust for rehabilitation in 2014. Because of the location of the tumour, Ethan became reluctant to use his voice and found eating difficult. Knowing that he liked marshmallows the therapy team hid them for him to find, so that he was having fun while pushing himself. Gradually Ethan grew stronger and stronger. Ethan is now back at home, school and playing football with his friends. He s the goalie, because his wheelchair helps keep the ball out. 4 The Children s Trust Rhea-Olivia Toddler Rhea-Olivia was given a one percent survival rate following a car accident in July 2013. One of the biggest improvements Rhea made during her time at The Children s Trust was being able to sit up more in her wheelchair. She began to use her right arm to reach out. As well as physiotherapy and hydrotherapy to improve strength, Rhea-Olivia also received speech and language therapy to help her say some words and helping her to swallow. Rhea is now back in nursery thanks to the work of The Children s Trust. Seb Seb was nine years old when he suffered life-threatening injuries, falling from the exit door of a double-decker coach on the way back from a rugby tournament. He suffered severe head and leg injuries. Following initial surgery where Seb s right leg needed to be amputated, Seb suffered two cardiac arrests resulting in brain injury. After intensive rehabilitation at The Children s Trust, Seb is now back at home and school with his twin brother Ben. He s working very hard at his recovery, aiming high for his future sporting life.

The money you, your friends, family and colleagues raise will help us to fund things like these. 4 Touch and feel sensory toy 15 Fibre-optic light for a multi-sensory room 20 Take a child horse riding session as part of their physiotherapy 75 Could pay for a switch-operated toy 600 Keep our fleet of specialist vehicles on the road for one week 8 Soft play cubes 57 Physio ball to help a child to balance and play 200 Music system to help children have fun and give them added stimulation 1,500 Ceiling tracking to enable children to be moved safely and with dignity 3,000 Equipment to boost children s independence by enabling them to turn on lights and a TV or control their music Thank you. Every penny counts! Fundraising Pack 5

Looking for some inspiration? I m extremely proud to work as a music therapist at The Children s Trust. Music therapy is an essential component of our comprehensive programmes of rehabilitation but it s completely reliant on voluntary funding. Hold a raffle Bake-off Sponsored run The children who come to our national specialist centre and school arrive with a range of needs. Some may be working on walking again where others might be working on how to interact with the world with a visual or hearing impairment. Music is something all children can access, regardless of disability. If they cannot communicate verbally, it can provide a new way for them to express themselves. Therapies are an integral part of life at The Children s Trust School. They play a significant part in the school curriculum and each child or young person receives an individual 24- hour programme. I love my job and I get to work with a great team of therapists that help the children work towards their personalised goals. 6 The Children s Trust

Music can be used in so many ways - from helping our clinicians assess abilities and awareness levels to allowing children to explore how they can impact their surroundings. An important aspect of music therapy is that it can allow children to explore their emotions and lead to further understanding and development on how to express themselves constructively. It s so rewarding to see the impact it can have on physical and communications skills too. Gala Event Triathlon I allow the child to lead each session, helping them choose an instrument they would like to explore, then improvising music in response to the child s musical playing, vocalisations, movements or even breathing pattern. It s important that I give the children plenty of time to respond to the music as they choose. Charly began to have music therapy when she started to attend The Children s Trust School in 2013. Initially, she was very quiet, occasionally turning her head towards the music and sighing. It took 18 months of hard work but eventually she found her voice. She now smiles to the sound of the guitar, relaxes and, sometimes, lets me hear her voice. Raise a song Sponsored walk As a team entirely reliant on voluntary donations and fundraising, we need your support in order to continue providing essential music therapy to enable the children to discover new ways to express themselves and complement their other rehabilitation therapies. Thank you so much for helping us to help children with brain injury live the best life possible. Tim Music Therapist, The Children s Trust School Hold a PJ party Fundraising Pack 7

What you need to know Before getting stuck in, remember there are certain requirements you ll need to follow to ensure your fundraising activities stay safe and legal... as well as fun. Be clear on any materials that you are fundraising in aid of The Children s Trust. Ensure that our charity registration number (288018) is printed on all materials All fundraisers collecting money must be over 16 years old, and must use a sealed collection box or bucket. You must have permission from the land owner if you re collecting on private property or from the local authority to collect on public property. Two unrelated people must count any money raised and should confirm the proceeds to us in writing. If you want to sell alcohol at your event and the venue is not licensed, you ll need a licence from the police. When planning, be sure to give yourself time to apply for licences as some councils and local authorities restrict the number they issue. If you are planning to hold a raffle or lottery in advance of your event, you ll need a Society Lotteries Licence from your local council. If you re holding a raffle at your workplace or club, if there are no cash prizes or if the raffle isn t the main focus of your event then you may not need a licence. Your local council will be able to advise you. Remember to keep it safe! You are responsible for the health and safety of volunteers and people attending your event. Please make sure you have considered all the risks and taken steps to limit them. You may need to source insurance for some events. 8 The Children s Trust

Top tips Think outside the box Don t be afraid to try something new or different as these ideas are often the most successful. Fed up with a dress-down day? Hold a dress-up day instead. Use your friends and family as co-fundraisers Get them to fundraise with you and for you through their networks! Sell your time Do chores for your friends, neighbours or colleagues and charge for it. Take advantage of our national fundraising initiatives Hold a Festive Friday, wear your PJ s to work for Pyjama Week or hold a Doughnut Day during National Doughnut Week. Use a variety of fundraising techniques Use as many fundraising techniques as you can to maximise the amount of funds you raise. For example, use online fundraising pages, traditional paper sponsorship forms and hold a bucket collection at your local supermarket. Fundraising Pack 9

Are you ready? There are a few things you need to think about when planning your event. Fundraising can be a scary prospect, especially if you have a set target to raise, but it doesn t need to be that way. It can be really rewarding and great fun. It s so easy if you just take it step-by-step. Time Give yourself plenty of time to get everything sorted out. You don t want to be rushed. Recruit a team to take part with you Get the date right Plan your event so that it doesn t clash with school holidays or any major sporting events. It s probably best to avoid any time cup finals are on unless you are organising a football or rugby fun day! Spread the word about your event to family and friends Location If you need to hire a venue, visit the venue first and talk to the manager. You will need to check for things such as is the venue big enough? Is there ample parking, disability access and access by public transport? 10 The Children s Trust

Volunteers If you ll need volunteers to help you, work out how many you need and what you need them to do and then approach them for help well in advance. Make sure you brief them thoroughly too. Set a target Set yourself a target of how much money you would like to raise. It will give you an extra incentive to really go for it. You may find it helpful to break the target into smaller targets. Use a variety of fundraising techniques such as holding an event, doing a bucket collection and setting up an online fundraising page. Ideas Keep it simple and small if it s your first event; you can always do something bigger later. Pick something that you are good at but also fun to do. Take a look at our Inspire magazine or the Get involved section of our website for some fantastic fundraising ideas. Ask us for help There are some more Top Tips on page 9 but if you have any questions please do get in touch. We love to hear about your fundraising plans. Contact us on: fundraising@thechildrenstrust.org.uk 01737 365 020 Fundraising Pack 11

Get set In order to gain as much support for your fundraising event or activity as possible, spread the word far and wide about what you re doing. You never know who may be able to help you Social media Promote your event on your social media networks through sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Use images and photos to entice people to come along. Post your event on The Children s Trust social network channels to get support and inspiration from fellow fundraisers. Let everybody know Gather up loads of interest with friends, family and colleagues and tell everyone about your exciting event. The more people you tell, the more donations you ll attract. Tell them early and remind them at least once! Top tip: add a little message at the bottom of your email signature. Posters Use the poster which is included in this pack to promote your event you can download more from our website. If you prefer to create your own poster, contact us for a copy of our In aid of logo and brand guidelines. Use your posters to capture people s attention and advertise your event on noticeboards and in shop windows. Press release Get in the press. They want to know what people like you are doing in their area. It will also give you support and let people know when your event is and why you re doing it. We ve included a press release template which you can send out with details of your fundraising on. Make sure to include how people can donate to you. Corporate support Many companies offer a match-giving scheme where for every pound that you raise, they ll also donate a pound to your charity. It s a great way for you to increase your total fundraising amount. Ask your employer if this is something they offer. 12 The Children s Trust

Go! Create an online fundraising page Online fundraising pages are a free and simple way to fundraise and collect donations for any event. Set up your page on JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving both are super easy to use. Then circulate your sponsorship page link to your friends, family, colleagues, contacts via email or on your social media networks. Both sites are 100% secure and all donations go straight to The Children s Trust. Remember to make your page personal and tell people why you are supporting The Children s Trust. Adding regular updates on how your training and fundraising is also great to keep people engaged. Use collection boxes Use the cardboard collection box provided as a great way to gain extra money and collect people s loose change you ll be amazed how quickly it fills up! Why not put one in your local shop or pub? Fill in your sponsorship forms Use the enclosed sponsorship form and ask everyone you know to sponsor you. This is such an easy way to fundraise. Claim Gift Aid Gift Aid is an excellent way for UK tax payers to raise extra funds for The Children s Trust at no extra cost to you or your sponsors. When asking for donations, please ask the individual donors to complete a Gift Aid form or to complete their details on sponsorship forms. By doing this we can reclaim 25p of tax on every 1 they give. Fundraising Pack 13

Keep going and finish strong Give yourself a big pat on the back! Be proud that all the hard work you have done to make your event a huge success will help children with brain injury around the UK. Thank you. There are several ways you can send in the money you have raised. Please send it the easiest way for you. By cheque Please make your cheque payable to The Children s Trust. By bank Pay cash straight into your local Lloyds TSB. Our sort code is 30-00-02 and our account number is 04026204. Please use your Supporter Reference Number as the donation reference. Online You can pay money raised in to us on our website at www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/donate Through JustGiving, Virgin Money or Everydayhero Don t worry, your donations will have been paid straight to The Children s Trust. Cash Please bring any cash donations in person to the fundraising office. Alternatively please pay cash into our bank account or via our website please do not send cash in the post. By Pingit Please contact us for details. Sponsorship forms Please send a copy of any sponsorship forms with any outstanding payments clearly marked. Don t forget to encourage people to tick the Gift Aid box. Please send all correspondence to: Fundraising The Children s Trust Tadworth Court Tadworth Surrey KT20 5RU If you have taken part in an event organised by The Children s Trust, we kindly ask you to please send in any money raised within eight weeks of the event date. Thank you. 14 The Children s Trust

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The Children s Trust Fundraising Team E fundraising@thechildrenstrust.org.uk T 01737 365 020 W thechildrenstrust.org.uk/getinvolved facebook.com/childrenstrust twitter.com/childrens_trust Charity registration number: 288018