All donations to The Brain Charity’s Sixmas cost of living appeal DOUBLED until 2023
Dear supporter,
My name is Shirley, and I owe so much to The Brain Charity.
As a former debt advisor, I’m used to helping other people manage their finances – but last year I found myself unable to pay my bills and mortgage.
I was diagnosed with syringomyelia – a rare neurological condition which causes a cyst to grow inside the spinal cord, causing falls, seizures and potential brain damage – in June 2021.
At around the same time, I was laid off from my job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My diagnosis made me a virtual recluse – I was struggling to make ends meet so I stopped talking to people and going out.
The cost of living crisis is hitting people with neurological conditions the hardest
I’m not alone – In January 2022, The Brain Charity surveyed its clients and found 1 in 3 regularly struggle financially.
On average, it costs someone with a disability £583 extra to live each month. This isn’t to pay for optional extras, but for the essential basics needed to survive like food and a warm place to live.
With energy prices and the cost of living skyrocketing, staff at The Brain Charity are worried many of their clients will have to choose between heating and eating this winter.
How The Brain Charity helped me
My job had always been about helping others, but when I needed help it was so hard for me to ask for it.
I had always been a positive person, but the diagnosis combined with losing my job made me feel like a victim, wondering ‘why me?’
When I met The Brain Charity’s team, they helped me claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to alleviate my money worries, and supported me to apply for my current job as a law firm office manager.
The support from The Brain Charity’s team had a huge impact on my life, not just practically but emotionally too.
Their calls to see how I was doing made a massive difference at a time I was feeling isolated.
1 in 6 people are affected by a neurological condition, so that’s a lot of people potentially in need of The Brain Charity’s support.
Their staff helped more than 3,000 people last year, and are predicting more people than ever will need their help this winter.
But as belts tighten, they are facing a drop in donations. Luckily, there’s a way to make your Christmas gift to The Brain Charity go twice as far.
This Christmas, The Brain Charity has partnered with the Aviva Community Fund to double all donations made to its Sixmas cost of living appeal.
All donations made between now and the end of the year will be doubled.
That means your £25 could become £50 to support other people like me at a time they need help the most – at no extra cost to you.
The Brain Charity is hoping to raise £16,000 to fund its Information and Advice service, so they can help more people affected by neurological conditions like me improve their financial situation.
Please support The Brain Charity’s Sixmas appeal this Christmas, and help some of society’s most vulnerable people survive the cost of living crisis.
Many thanks,
Shirley