Records smashed by fundraising campaign

December 2019

Minstead Trust is celebrating raising more than £9,000 in its Christmas fundraising campaign.

The total was reached in just seven days and was the most that the Trust has ever raised in its annual festive fundraiser.

The donations will help the charity to support more people with learning disabilities to gain employment through its Step Up For Work programme.

The programme is a brand new approach to the low levels of employment among people with mild learning disabilities; currently fewer than 20% have a job. Workshops and supported work experience in Minstead Trust’s social businesses help people develop the skills and confidence needed to be able to enter paid positions with local employers.

Minstead Trust supports over 200 people in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Southampton and Portsmouth. It offers people the opportunity to develop skills for work, skills for life and improve their health and wellbeing.

The Trust came together with almost 600 other charities to raise funds during the UK’s biggest match funding campaign, The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge 2019

The Big Give’s record-breaking campaign, which ran from 3-10 December, generated over £15 million in vital funding for good causes across the country, matching donations pound for pound until the funding pot was empty.

Matched funding was provided by over 20 funding champions, including Reed Foundation, The Childhood Trust, Four Acre Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with charities raising additional match funding through their own network of philanthropists and funders.

Lesley Brooks, Minstead Trust Fundraising Co-ordinator, said: ‘The generosity of the community to this year’s Christmas Challenge has been overwhelming. It demonstrates just how much our supporters care about changing the lives of the people we support.

‘We’re deeply thankful to our funding champions and pledgers for their crucial role in this campaign. We look forward to seeing the difference their donations make to our work helping people with learning disabilities build their potential and gain employment.’