Beneficiaries 2023
The charity projects being funded by The Light Fund as a result of the 2023 fundraising efforts are…
Acorns Children’s Hospice - £5,000
The grant will cover five full days of palliative care for life-limited and life-threatened children staying at Acorns Children’s Hospices in Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester. Five days of care will benefit five children and approximately 15 of their family members.
Birth Trauma Association - £4,800
Many people affected by a traumatic birth can find it difficult to access traditional support systems. This grant will allow the charity’s support to extend to local face-to-face groups run by trained members of its peer support team. Attending mother-and-baby groups can trigger reminders of the birth, and very often people with postnatal PTSD find that others do not understand the psychological impact of traumatic birth.
Bone Cancer Research Trust - £5,100
Primary bone cancer is a rare and brutal disease. Based on patients’ feedback the charity has developed Patient Support Boxes which are full of relevant information specific to the exact primary bone cancer the patient has been diagnosed with. The Light Fund will enable 300 Patient Support Boxes to be sent out.
Bowel Cancer UK - £5,123
Bowel Cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer. The charity’s Ask the Nurse service provides high quality information and support. This grant will cover the costs of running this service for 45 days.
The Brain Tumour Charity - £5,000
To provide 175 Brainy Bags for children diagnosed with a brain tumour to provide comfort and act as a distraction during long hospital stays. Each bag also includes details of the support and information which we can offer throughout their brain tumour journey. This project will complement the paediatric information booklets which The Light Fund has generously funded this year, encouraging parents to order the paediatric information packs at the same time as they order a Brainy Bag.
Brain Tumour Support - £3,932
Brain Tumour Support and the Neuro Oncology Team at Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust have formed an Early Intervention pilot to provide patients diagnosed with a Brain Tumour earlier access to support through an automatic referral to Brain Tumour Support. The project will benefit all patients who have received a brain tumour diagnosis as well as their families and carers.
Breast Cancer Now - £5,000
This donation is for continued support for the charity’s specialist Helpline and Ask Our Nurses service. These are both free support services for anyone affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer can be hard to make sense of, whether it be going through treatment, worries about breast health, or supporting a loved one.
Bromley Brighter Beginnings - £5,000
This grant will provide funding for the charity’s Bed for Every Child campaign. Every child is entitled to a bed of their own – a comfortable, functional bed with clean, warm bedding that increases the chance of a better night’s sleep, which can, in turn, lead to improved concentration and performance at school. It costs £300 to provide a single bed with in-built storage, its delivery and installation, and bedding for a child and this donation will provide approximately 17 children with a bed of their very own.
CALM - £5,000
To assist funding for Calm’s national life-saving helpline service, available 365 days a year from 5pm to midnight, via phone, webchat and WhatsApp. The helpline offers people the chance to have a free, confidential, and anonymous conversation with an experienced professional who can help people find hope, a reason to stay, and gain the tools they need to make positive long-term changes, saving lives every single day.
Challenge Africa - £5,000
To pay for the building of a poultry farm next to Uzima School for orphans in Kenya. The current farm sustainably funds education for 125 vulnerable children, particularly girls who would be unable to attend school otherwise. Egg and chicken sales pay for teachers, school chairs and desks, exercise books and clothing and shoes for orphans. Eggs also provide protein for the children. This bigger chicken farm with 300 chickens will grow the school, enabling it to provide primary education and care to at least 26 more orphans per year. The school also hosts training classes for at-risk young women in the evenings, funded by chicken sales. The funds also pays for a solar panel on the farm roof will mean the women could learn with lights on in the evening rather than using a torch.
Crohn’s & Colitis - £5,000
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) does not discriminate. Crohn’s and Colitis affects people of all ages – men, women, and children. The grant will contribute towards the costs of running the charity’s (digital and printed) Patient Information Service, in 2024 that informs, supports, and empowers those living with Crohn’s and Colitis - and their concerned parents, carers, and loved ones.
Dogs for Good - £5,151
The funding to facilitate creating an assistance dog partnership that will benefit an autistic child on the charity’s waiting list. The autism assistance dog partnerships support children aged 3 to 16-years-old. Everyday activities are frightening and confusing for an autistic child which results in the child displaying behaviours such as meltdowns or bolting and running off. This grant will enable the training and partnering of an assistance dog to support an autistic child.
Maggie’s - £5,000
To assist in providing a wide range of benefits to women with cancer, including financial support, advice, grants and to run Eating Well workshops at Maggie's, West London.
Motor Neurone Disease Association - £5,000
A diagnosis of MND is devastating. The donation will provide more than 65 counselling sessions for children and young people who have been affected by a family member receiving the devastating diagnosis of MND.
MS-UK - £5,000
To provide 36 online MS information sessions in 2024, which aims to support 1,400 people. These are delivered over Zoom so people with MS do not need to travel. The subjects covered are those suggested by the MS community and are wide ranging, from how to manage symptoms such as fatigue or spasticity, to self-help options around diet and lifestyle changes, through to mental health and acceptance.
New Life Special Care Babies - £5,000
To pay for a specialist ‘hot cot’ for premature babies in a UK hospital (location TBC). This much needed equipment will save young lives and will join the 20+ hot cots already supplied funded by The Light Fund.
Orchid - £5,000
Orchid continues to deliver awareness activities which we know help people learn about the risk factors, signs and symptoms of prostate, testicular and penile cancer, and the need for, and the benefits of, the earliest possible diagnosis. The Light Fund donation will faciliate a Male Cancer Information Roadshow in a busy community location, in either Sunderland or the London Borough of Newham as well as annual Male Cancer Awareness Week in September 2024.
Pancreatic Cancer UK - £5,040
Run by a team of experienced nurses the Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Nurse Support Line acts as a lifeline, providing the specialist information and emotional support for anyone affected by pancreatic cancer. It costs the charity £90 to provide each newly diagnosed patient with their own personalised package of support. This includes two hours with a specialist nurse and personalised follow-up information, two virtual pancreatic cancer support sessions, a new diagnosed booklet containing several publications and access to our online forum and website information. So, The Light Fund’s grant would enable the charity to support 56 newly diagnosed patients with this service in 2024.
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity - £4,500
To provide over 200 hours of autism and neurodiversity training for 30 Roald Dahl Nurse Specialists across the UK. The charity estimates that these nurses will directly support at least 750 neurodiverse children, as well as their families.
Shelterbox - £5,000
The Light Fund’s donation can provide around 6,000 people (men, women and children) across 20 villages worldwide with tents, thermal blankets, solar lights, and kitchen sets that may have lost their homes through natural disaster or war.
The Sick Children’s Trust - £5,000
This grant will be used for the charity’s urgent project to re-carpet the stairs and landings at Guilford Street House, the ‘Home from Home’ for Great Ormond Street Hospital which supports around 350 families with a seriously ill child every year.
UK Men’s Sheds Association - £5,000
This grant will enable to production of three new video presentations - likely to focus on mental health, prostate cancer and arthritis - that will improve the health and wellbeing of Shedders as well as communicate the needs of its members to external, influential organisations. It will also demonstrate the importance of supporting the Men’s Sheds charity with its ability to reach older men; traditionally a very difficult demographic to engage.
Whizz-Kidz - £5,000
This grant will be used to provide young wheelchair users on the charity’s waiting list with vital, bespoke mobility equipment.
Winston’s Wish - £5,000
Nearly a million 0–25-year-olds in the UK may have experienced the death of a parent, brother, or sister – that’s around 5% of the 0-25 population. This grant will help the charity to carry on providing its Live Chat Service to grieving children and young people wherever they are or whatever their circumstances.
Young Minds - £5,000
The grant will provide support with part of a wider project to increase the capacity and efficacy of its Parents Helpline. This is a free, confidential service that helps 15,000 families every year. This donation will cover costs (such as travel and the facilitation of workshops and focus groups with parents) for the outreach and partnerships work we have planned for 2024.
Discretionary Grants During 2023
DEC Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal - £5000
To provide emergency aid to those affected by the huge earthquake in that region in February 2023.
Macmillan Cancer £1,500
To contribute to the charity’s valuable work in supporting terminally-ill cancer patients.
MIND - £1,500
To contribute to the charity’s services, providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.
The GA Benevolent Society - £1,400
To contribute to the help provided to individuals within the giftware, jewellery, surface engineering, travel goods and fashion accessories industries.
Rainy Day Trust - £1,270
To contribute to the help provided to people who have worked in the UK’s home improvement and enhancement industry.
Lancashire Hospitals Teaching Charity - £5,000
To contribute to the charity’s Neurosurgery Fund.
Acorns Children’s Hospice - £5,000
The grant will cover five full days of palliative care for life-limited and life-threatened children staying at Acorns Children’s Hospices in Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester. Five days of care will benefit five children and approximately 15 of their family members.
Birth Trauma Association - £4,800
Many people affected by a traumatic birth can find it difficult to access traditional support systems. This grant will allow the charity’s support to extend to local face-to-face groups run by trained members of its peer support team. Attending mother-and-baby groups can trigger reminders of the birth, and very often people with postnatal PTSD find that others do not understand the psychological impact of traumatic birth.
Bone Cancer Research Trust - £5,100
Primary bone cancer is a rare and brutal disease. Based on patients’ feedback the charity has developed Patient Support Boxes which are full of relevant information specific to the exact primary bone cancer the patient has been diagnosed with. The Light Fund will enable 300 Patient Support Boxes to be sent out.
Bowel Cancer UK - £5,123
Bowel Cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer. The charity’s Ask the Nurse service provides high quality information and support. This grant will cover the costs of running this service for 45 days.
The Brain Tumour Charity - £5,000
To provide 175 Brainy Bags for children diagnosed with a brain tumour to provide comfort and act as a distraction during long hospital stays. Each bag also includes details of the support and information which we can offer throughout their brain tumour journey. This project will complement the paediatric information booklets which The Light Fund has generously funded this year, encouraging parents to order the paediatric information packs at the same time as they order a Brainy Bag.
Brain Tumour Support - £3,932
Brain Tumour Support and the Neuro Oncology Team at Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust have formed an Early Intervention pilot to provide patients diagnosed with a Brain Tumour earlier access to support through an automatic referral to Brain Tumour Support. The project will benefit all patients who have received a brain tumour diagnosis as well as their families and carers.
Breast Cancer Now - £5,000
This donation is for continued support for the charity’s specialist Helpline and Ask Our Nurses service. These are both free support services for anyone affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer can be hard to make sense of, whether it be going through treatment, worries about breast health, or supporting a loved one.
Bromley Brighter Beginnings - £5,000
This grant will provide funding for the charity’s Bed for Every Child campaign. Every child is entitled to a bed of their own – a comfortable, functional bed with clean, warm bedding that increases the chance of a better night’s sleep, which can, in turn, lead to improved concentration and performance at school. It costs £300 to provide a single bed with in-built storage, its delivery and installation, and bedding for a child and this donation will provide approximately 17 children with a bed of their very own.
CALM - £5,000
To assist funding for Calm’s national life-saving helpline service, available 365 days a year from 5pm to midnight, via phone, webchat and WhatsApp. The helpline offers people the chance to have a free, confidential, and anonymous conversation with an experienced professional who can help people find hope, a reason to stay, and gain the tools they need to make positive long-term changes, saving lives every single day.
Challenge Africa - £5,000
To pay for the building of a poultry farm next to Uzima School for orphans in Kenya. The current farm sustainably funds education for 125 vulnerable children, particularly girls who would be unable to attend school otherwise. Egg and chicken sales pay for teachers, school chairs and desks, exercise books and clothing and shoes for orphans. Eggs also provide protein for the children. This bigger chicken farm with 300 chickens will grow the school, enabling it to provide primary education and care to at least 26 more orphans per year. The school also hosts training classes for at-risk young women in the evenings, funded by chicken sales. The funds also pays for a solar panel on the farm roof will mean the women could learn with lights on in the evening rather than using a torch.
Crohn’s & Colitis - £5,000
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) does not discriminate. Crohn’s and Colitis affects people of all ages – men, women, and children. The grant will contribute towards the costs of running the charity’s (digital and printed) Patient Information Service, in 2024 that informs, supports, and empowers those living with Crohn’s and Colitis - and their concerned parents, carers, and loved ones.
Dogs for Good - £5,151
The funding to facilitate creating an assistance dog partnership that will benefit an autistic child on the charity’s waiting list. The autism assistance dog partnerships support children aged 3 to 16-years-old. Everyday activities are frightening and confusing for an autistic child which results in the child displaying behaviours such as meltdowns or bolting and running off. This grant will enable the training and partnering of an assistance dog to support an autistic child.
Maggie’s - £5,000
To assist in providing a wide range of benefits to women with cancer, including financial support, advice, grants and to run Eating Well workshops at Maggie's, West London.
Motor Neurone Disease Association - £5,000
A diagnosis of MND is devastating. The donation will provide more than 65 counselling sessions for children and young people who have been affected by a family member receiving the devastating diagnosis of MND.
MS-UK - £5,000
To provide 36 online MS information sessions in 2024, which aims to support 1,400 people. These are delivered over Zoom so people with MS do not need to travel. The subjects covered are those suggested by the MS community and are wide ranging, from how to manage symptoms such as fatigue or spasticity, to self-help options around diet and lifestyle changes, through to mental health and acceptance.
New Life Special Care Babies - £5,000
To pay for a specialist ‘hot cot’ for premature babies in a UK hospital (location TBC). This much needed equipment will save young lives and will join the 20+ hot cots already supplied funded by The Light Fund.
Orchid - £5,000
Orchid continues to deliver awareness activities which we know help people learn about the risk factors, signs and symptoms of prostate, testicular and penile cancer, and the need for, and the benefits of, the earliest possible diagnosis. The Light Fund donation will faciliate a Male Cancer Information Roadshow in a busy community location, in either Sunderland or the London Borough of Newham as well as annual Male Cancer Awareness Week in September 2024.
Pancreatic Cancer UK - £5,040
Run by a team of experienced nurses the Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Nurse Support Line acts as a lifeline, providing the specialist information and emotional support for anyone affected by pancreatic cancer. It costs the charity £90 to provide each newly diagnosed patient with their own personalised package of support. This includes two hours with a specialist nurse and personalised follow-up information, two virtual pancreatic cancer support sessions, a new diagnosed booklet containing several publications and access to our online forum and website information. So, The Light Fund’s grant would enable the charity to support 56 newly diagnosed patients with this service in 2024.
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity - £4,500
To provide over 200 hours of autism and neurodiversity training for 30 Roald Dahl Nurse Specialists across the UK. The charity estimates that these nurses will directly support at least 750 neurodiverse children, as well as their families.
Shelterbox - £5,000
The Light Fund’s donation can provide around 6,000 people (men, women and children) across 20 villages worldwide with tents, thermal blankets, solar lights, and kitchen sets that may have lost their homes through natural disaster or war.
The Sick Children’s Trust - £5,000
This grant will be used for the charity’s urgent project to re-carpet the stairs and landings at Guilford Street House, the ‘Home from Home’ for Great Ormond Street Hospital which supports around 350 families with a seriously ill child every year.
UK Men’s Sheds Association - £5,000
This grant will enable to production of three new video presentations - likely to focus on mental health, prostate cancer and arthritis - that will improve the health and wellbeing of Shedders as well as communicate the needs of its members to external, influential organisations. It will also demonstrate the importance of supporting the Men’s Sheds charity with its ability to reach older men; traditionally a very difficult demographic to engage.
Whizz-Kidz - £5,000
This grant will be used to provide young wheelchair users on the charity’s waiting list with vital, bespoke mobility equipment.
Winston’s Wish - £5,000
Nearly a million 0–25-year-olds in the UK may have experienced the death of a parent, brother, or sister – that’s around 5% of the 0-25 population. This grant will help the charity to carry on providing its Live Chat Service to grieving children and young people wherever they are or whatever their circumstances.
Young Minds - £5,000
The grant will provide support with part of a wider project to increase the capacity and efficacy of its Parents Helpline. This is a free, confidential service that helps 15,000 families every year. This donation will cover costs (such as travel and the facilitation of workshops and focus groups with parents) for the outreach and partnerships work we have planned for 2024.
Discretionary Grants During 2023
DEC Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal - £5000
To provide emergency aid to those affected by the huge earthquake in that region in February 2023.
Macmillan Cancer £1,500
To contribute to the charity’s valuable work in supporting terminally-ill cancer patients.
MIND - £1,500
To contribute to the charity’s services, providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.
The GA Benevolent Society - £1,400
To contribute to the help provided to individuals within the giftware, jewellery, surface engineering, travel goods and fashion accessories industries.
Rainy Day Trust - £1,270
To contribute to the help provided to people who have worked in the UK’s home improvement and enhancement industry.
Lancashire Hospitals Teaching Charity - £5,000
To contribute to the charity’s Neurosurgery Fund.