One week… one donation… DOUBLE the impact you can make to the future of the Ataxia UK Helpline and research. Click here to double your donation!
This Christmas we have, once again, teamed up with The Big Give and have secured a match funding pot of £30,000 from which your Christmas donations can be DOUBLED at no extra cost to you!
Since Christmas 2017, matched donations from the ataxia community has achieved some amazing results for people living with ataxia.
From the establishment of the Ataxia: 16-30s group – a thriving platform for young people affected by ataxia to meet online and talk about similar issues; to the funding of the UK’s first ataxia paediatric clinic at the Sheffield Ataxia Centre, your matched donations have raised in total, an incredible £151,452 to help support families living with ataxia and fund ground-breaking ataxia research.
A simply amazing achievement which is only made possible with your kind generosity – and is a testament to the incredible difference match giving can have on the impact of your donations!
WHAT CAN YOUR DOUBLED DONATION DO?
In common with most other charities this year and for the foreseeable future, Ataxia UK and the community of people and families affected by ataxia who rely on our support and services will continue to feel the impact of the loss in fundraising income as a result of turbulent covid lockdowns.
Your support this year is more important than ever.
This December, between 12pm on Tuesday 1 December, until 12pm on Tuesday 8 December your donations can be doubled and will be used to provide support to those who need it most through the Ataxia UK Helpline, and by ensuring vital research into treatments and cures for the ataxias continues to be funded.
One way your doubled donation can help is by providing financial advice for people affected by ataxia – helping them access the benefits they’re entitled to; provide assistance during the appeal process – and if they need further support to appeal decisions, we will be there to guide and support them.
“My anxiety was sky high. It was about a year and a half that I was finding it [work] difficult. The last six months were a real struggle. It was both money and because I wanted to keep going. I was very anxious, I’d been working for 30 years and was anxious about the benefit system. (James, 55-64)”
Matched donations from this year’s Big Give will help establish an information advice service to provide support to people just like James and expand it to many other areas you have told us you need more support with, including:
Employment and pension rights
– Advice and support focused on housing rights, aids and adaptations
– Accessing accurate information about potential entitlement to different benefits, about how their condition relates to, and triggers that entitlement
– Information about sources of mainstream advice to people with ataxia facing debt issues.
Between 12pm on Tuesday 1 December and 12pm Tuesday 8 December, we are calling on the support of the ataxia community to help raise £60,000 to help fund:
- The Ataxia UK Helpline service – ensuring it remains fully staffed throughout 2021 and beyond.
- The introduction of a new Advice and Financial Inclusion Service – providing financial advice on welfare benefits and grants, as well as tax and debt counselling for families affected by ataxia during the lockdown and current recession.
- Research into finding treatments and cures for the ataxias and making sure that progress isn’t impeded by the impact of the epidemic.
Thanks to the commitment of our pledge donors and the support of our Champion funder: The Reed Foundation, from Tuesday 1 December until Tuesday 8 December, Ataxia UK will have a match pot of £30,000 of available funds to DOUBLE YOUR DONATIONS!
HOW TO JOIN
To double your donations to Ataxia UK this Christmas, please visit our Big Give 2020 Christmas Challenge online page from noon on Tuesday 1 December until noon Tuesday 8 December 2020.
PLEASE NOTE: Ataxia UK will not be allowed to help you process your donations to our Big Give Challenge via telephone.
Your donations will only be matched if you donate online, via Ataxia UK’s Big Give page between 1 – 8 December 2020.
Please stay tuned for the website link you will need to double your gift to Ataxia UK and a full explanation of the Big Give Christmas Challenge donation process on the Ataxia UK website in the coming weeks.
Gift Aid
If you are a UK tax-payer, please don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box when you donate online as your gift will be worth even more to Ataxia UK at no extra cost to you.
For example, a donation of £100 to help increase access to diagnosis and treatment during the Big Week Challenge week will be worth an incredible £225 towards raising £60,000 goal.
So, don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box when you donate online! Donate here now.
