Newlife’s Big Christmas Challenge aims to raise vital funding for disabled children’s mobility aids
With the lockdown preventing Newlife from generating much-needed income over Black Friday, the charity has launched a new Christmas campaign to raise money for its equipment services for disabled children in need.
The charity is participating in the Big Give Christmas Challenge from 1 to 8 December. During the week, every donation made to Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children will be matched by match funding platform The Big Give.
It follows income losses for charity of more than £3 million caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most recently, Newlife has seen one of its key revenue streams disappear during the second lockdown as non-essential retail shops were closed throughout November. The charity operates a network of seven retail stores, which sell unsold goods from leading retailers at reduced prices.
According to organisation, the second lockdown forced the charity to close its stores, missing out on the lucrative Black Friday trade, which it states generated a substantial £118,000 in a single day.
To help offset the losses, Newlife are aiming to raise £6,000 – which will be doubled to £12,000 – over its Big Give Christmas campaign to fund its equipment services.
In particular, the campaign will help Newlife deliver loan equipment within 72 hours when there is urgent need, as well as approve “fast-track” equipment grant applications within 24 hours when an emergency situation has been identified.
According to Newlife, it needs £68,862 to provide equipment to 73 disabled children across the West Midlands.
Half of all applications that the charity receives are from families who are in a desperate situation, says the charity. It highlights that children may not have appropriate equipment and are left in pain, at risk of significant injury or suffering a rapid deterioration in their condition.
Sheila Brown OBE, co-founder and CEO of Newlife, said that The Big Give Christmas Challenge is a fantastic way for donations to have double the impact.
“It’s been a really difficult six months for Newlife after the coronavirus forced us to shut all of our shops in March and again in October.
“We lost more than £3 million in income but our promise of supporting disabled children across the UK has not been compromised and we’ve been there for families when they need us most.
“A lot of the disabled children who need our help are at most risk of the effects of Covid-19 and right now they need us more than ever.”
