Fundraising update – 5 November
Over the last few weeks, we have started to see charities around us fall due to the financial pressure that coronavirus has caused. Thanks to the amazing support we continue to receive, we are not one of them.
This week we have seen an incredible response to our Localgiving matched funding campaign which raised over £6,000. Thank you to everyone who donated – your generosity will allow us to continue to provide online support and will help us restart more face-to-face services when the time is right.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported us over the last few months, and those who continue to do so. Every donation and every piece of fundraising has made a big difference to us…but it is not just financial support. Everyone who has followed us on social media, completed surveys and adapted to our new ways of working, we really appreciate your help.
We have also seen a last-minute surge of Winter Draw entries – good luck everyone! We have been blown away, thank you very much.
Going forward
Our fundraising will be affected by the pandemic for at least the next three years, likely a lot longer. Our goal is to ensure our charity can stay open and make sure we can continue to provide support, even in these new ways! A huge thank you to everyone who donates via standing order, it really helps us achieve this.
This is Trustee Week and it would be totally amiss not to thank our trustees for the excellent job they are doing to helping us navigate this uncertain time. They are focusing on balancing our long term survival whilst making sure that we don’t disappear during the pandemic.
I ensure you that just because most of our services are not face-to-face at the moment it is not a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. As we enter the winter and a second lockdown starts, it may feel tougher this time. But our remote services will continue and are in place from the start this time – please use them.
Christmas
It is November so I can start talking about Christmas, right?!
Without question, it is going to be different this year but we are looking at different festive fun-draising ideas….watch this space!
Due to the uncertainty of our finances this year, we have not got our normal range of Christmas cards. We have a few packs of older designs which are available via Ros’s online fair (https://www.bmstc.org/blog/click-and-collect-fair-aid-bmstc). We hope that Christmas cards (and normality) will be back next year. We will be launching e-cards very soon to help us spread Christmas cheer and save some trees!
The future looks very uncertain at the moment but we made it through the first one and together we will make it through this one too. Thank you for all your support and please don’t forget to use our services, that’s what they are there for!
Best wishes,
Sam and the fundraising team.
