Tree of Hope: Branching out for a better tomorrow

Tree of Hope shares with KtoA Magazine how they help families tackle the costs and challenges of raising a child with additional needs through supportive and effective fundraising.

Caring for a child with a disability is three times more expensive than raising a child without a disability and is a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. Parents often have to reduce working hours to care for their child/ren. Additionally, benefits including Disability Living Allowance (DLA) don’t keep pace with the extra costs of raising a child with additional needs. Recommended equipment and services from therapists and suppliers come at a premium, and with the NHS under increasing pressure and waiting lists growing, how do you do it?

National children’s charity Tree of Hope has supported families with disabled children across the UK for over thirty years, to fundraise for needs associated with any healthcare condition or disability. Tree of Hope is a complete fundraising service providing families a full support service, a listening ear, helping to inspire ideas, make fundraising achievable by opening up more effective fundraising avenues than traditional crowdfunding platforms offer, and enabling families to access the funds they need quicker.

Grace and William: Turning passion into impact

Grace has a mutation of the gene RHOBTB2 (c.1448G>A) and is currently one of around thirty-eight people diagnosed around the world. Grace’s family joined Tree of Hope to fundraise £100,000 to pay for specialist therapy, home adaptations, and equipment to give her every opportunity to thrive and develop – they are going from strength to strength.

Grace’s parents said: “Tree of Hope are an amazing organisation that have gone above and beyond to not only support my little girl Grace, but also so many other children. We have been doing numerous fundraising events, and Tree of Hope have always been there for help and advice on how to get the most out of our campaign, through social media, telephone communication, or email, support is always on hand.”

William has a rare neurogenetic condition called Angelman Syndrome. This is a chromosome 15 deletion which leaves him facing a life of therapy to learn to walk, sit, and communicate as well as ongoing home adaptations and equipment needs. William’s parents have thrown themselves into fundraising and achieved so much for William.

William’s family is immensely grateful for Tree of Hope and says: “Having the support of Tree of Hope taking care of the payment processes, and conversations with the suppliers, it takes the worry out of it for us. There were always people and companies that couldn’t give to us directly, but with Tree of Hope, we have more funding opportunities.

Having the gift aid also makes such a difference and has meant we’ve been able to buy a specialised bed quicker for William than we ever imagined!”

Thinking of fundraising? Here are some top tips to consider first:

Work with us. Using Tree of Hope as a banner to fundraise with gives donors confidence and trust that they are donating to a registered charity and presents new opportunities. Who can you get to help? Fundraising is much more enjoyable when others are involved. Gather a small team of family and friends so you’re not doing everything on your own.

Your friends and family are your most ardent supporters so make them aware of what you want to achieve and get them to help spread the word.

Social media is a great tool to make lots of people aware of your campaign quickly. Our marketing support and social media guide will help get you started!

Fundraising does require you to put yourself out there, which is a personal choice but can be a lot less scary than families often think, and we are here to help you on that journey. Get in touch. Our family support team are always happy to chat if you want to find out some more information about fundraising and what being part of Tree of Hope will help you to achieve. Email families@treeofhope.org.uk or call 01892 535525.