As the world continues to adjust to the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to update you on True Colours’ response to the crisis so far.
Almost all the work supported by True Colours involves partner organisations which are directly involved in the Covid-19 response in some way. Many of our partners are delivering frontline care to children and families, others advocate to ensure that the voices of disabled children or those with palliative care needs are heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. In Africa, our partners are working in hard-to-reach communities providing palliative care.
The True Colours team has been humbled by the dedication of the organisations we fund to the children, families and patients they support and we are proud to be associated with them.
Given the direct involvement of these organisations in the Covid-19 response, the majority of our emergency funding of £1.47 million has focused on helping them to respond quickly to the crisis.
We have also revised the criteria for our next round of funding from the UK Small Grants programme to help small, local organisations adapt their services in light of Covid-19 so that they can continue or resume supporting families safely.
The exception to this has been funding of the Life Lines project.
We provided £500,000 to launch Life Lines, an initiative designed to connect families of seriously ill patients isolated on intensive care units with their loved ones. The project aimed to alleviate human suffering during the pandemic by providing tablets and establishing a system for virtual e-visiting which allows the families of seriously ill patients to see and speak to their loved ones via a tablet using a secure online platform. It also provides families with the opportunity to communicate directly with the clinical team, ask questions and better understand the care the patient is receiving. So far over 1,000 tablets have been delivered to intensive care units across the UK and thousands of calls have been made to families. We made this grant in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, which also provided £500,000.
Click here to read about the other emergency grants that we have made in the UK and Africa.
United Kingdom
Many of the charities and voluntary organisations we work with have been affected by huge drops in income, including those delivering frontline services to children and families whose activities are vitally important at this time.
Grants made:
- £100,000 to Together for Short Lives, the national charity for children’s palliative care, towards its core costs. Alongside providing direct advice and support to families, via its helpline and hub, the charity worked with others to successfully raise the profile of families, and successfully made a case for additional funding for hospice care at this difficult time.
- £150,000 of additional core funding to Jessie May Trust, to continue to provide care to seriously ill children and their families in their homes, prioritising those most in need.
- £100,000 to Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity towards its work with children and families which includes services such as emotional support, transport to hospital appointments or procuring medical or grocery items.
Tragically, there is a significant rise in the demand for services providing bereavement support.
Grants made:
- £38,721 in additional support to the Childhood Bereavement Network, a hub for those organisations working with bereaved children, young people and their families in the UK. This was in response to a need for greater capacity at CBN as demand for its services, advice and frontline support increased significantly as the Covid-19 crisis began to have an impact on services across the UK.
Parents and families are in desperate need of equipment and other supplies, particularly those who are shielding, and those children who can’t attend school or access other respite services.
Grants made:
- £100,000 to WellChild towards its Families Team which has set up a Covid-19 Response Service, providing families with practical help, such as arranging food deliveries and providing PPE for carers, alongside advice and referrals.
- £50,000 to Contact towards providing help and advice to families struggling under the lockdown including those needing support on financial issues, challenges with behaviour or concerns about their health or that of their child. The funding also allowed Contact to provide equipment or resources including sensory toys, continence materials and much more to families in need.
- £20,000 to Little Village, a London-based charity which provides essential equipment to families in need.
Africa
In Africa we made emergency grants towards the Covid-19 response in the three countries in which we have supported national programmes: Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Each grant was awarded to an organisation with a national remit which is supporting their government’s national Covid-19 response effort.
Our long-standing partners quickly identified three main challenges as the crisis developed. These were a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers, community volunteers, patients and families; a lack of information and public awareness of the virus and the ways to prevent infection; and fear and stigma, particularly of health care workers who are feared to be carrying the virus.
Our grants were intended to address the major challenges faced by palliative care providers while also ensuring, as far as possible, the safety of those we work with.
Grants made:
- £300,000 to the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association towards the costs of their Covid-19 response and core costs.
- £75,000 to Island Hospice and Healthcare in Zimbabwe towards the costs of their Covid-19 response.
- £36,550 to the Palliative Care Association of Malawi towards the cost of Personal Protective Equipment.
We will continue to work with our partner organisations and those in the palliative care and disability sectors to help them through this extremely difficult time as they work tirelessly to support those in need.
