Double Your Donation this week with the Big Give Christmas Challenge!
Help ASC raise £20k for the MPC Helpline with the Big Give ‘Double your Donation’ Christmas Challenge 2018!
At Midday tomorrow 27th November, the Big Give Christmas Challenge begins and we set out with the task of raising £20k for the helpline, run by the Michael Palin Centre (MPC)!
The challenge will begin at Midday on Giving Tuesday 27th November, and concludes at the same time one week later on Tuesday 4th December. During this time, you will have the opportunity to double your donation should you chose to participate, and help us reach this fantastic goal in order to help more children and young people who stammer, and their families across the UK. So, if you donate £100, with Gift Aid we would receive £225.
We’re delighted to be given this fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of stammering, and to fund the vital helpline used by so many parents of children who stammer, therapists, GPs and many more, looking for support. Last year alone we helped 646 people through the helpline, and we’re looking to go even further and help more in the future.
In the UK 150,000 children and young people stammer, many of whom feel isolated and vulnerable, and are not aware that help is available. Moreover, their parents, siblings, friends and teachers often don’t know what they can do to help. We firmly believe they need a free, readily available information service that can respond to their concerns and needs, and provide them with information and guidance regarding available therapy, and connect them to the specialists who can help.
Managed by experienced staff at the Michael Palin Centre, the helpline provides a first port of call to worried parents, teachers, therapists, GPs and other professionals who need expert advice on how to respond to a child’s stammer. A total of 646 calls were received during the year, including calls from concerned parents needing advice on whether their child’s stammer requires therapy, parents needing advice whilst waiting for their child to be seen locally, and therapists seeking advice on how to respond to a clinical issue. For many, their first contact will be with the Michael Palin Centre through the helpline, which may lead to a specialist assessment and therapy at the Centre. Young people who receive help from the MPC report an improvement in fluency and greater participation in the classroom (86%).
The national helpline run by the MPC is open to anyone who needs help with stammering. There will always be a sympathetic voice on the line to deal with any general concerns.
Here’s what one parent had to say about how much they have been helped by the helpline:
“I wanted to convey my thanks and gratitude to your amazing charity. As a very anxious mother I have called your helpline over the years and spoken to many helpful, kind and empathetic therapists who have given me such sound advice. After some navigation through our own local authority with speech therapy with not much success we came through the other end and made our way to the MPC service and with the marvelous Daisy Hope. I have seen a great sense of empowerment of myself and my husband through the counselling and service she provided and I know that this will hold us in great stead as we help to raise our son as a confident individual. I feel so indebted to the service you provide, the quality and the high level of expertise that you have shown to us. Everything about your charity is marvellous, and if I was to say thank you a million times it would not be enough. But thank you, thank you thank you.”
With your help we can continue this vital service and help even more children and young people across the UK who stammer. So, please follow this link between Midday on Tuesday 27th November and 4th December to have your donation doubled and help us reach our target of £20,000!
An example of how the donation process works:
Your donation – £100
Match pot – £100
Gift Aid – £25
ASC Receives – £225
If you have any questions regarding the Big Give Christmas Challenge or the donation process, please feel free to contact us on [email protected] or call us at the office on 020 3316 8113.
