Covid appeal reaches every part of UK
The NHS faced the biggest challenge in its history when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020 and the public wanted to do their bit to help it cope. As the umbrella organisation representing all NHS charities across the UK, we became the focal point for this outpouring of support for the NHS and launched our Urgent Covid-19 Appeal.
Raising over £15million in the first five days, the appeal went on to raise £160 million to support patients, hospital staff, and volunteers at the frontline of the crisis.
We mobilised quickly to allocate funds to reach every part of the UK through our member NHS charities, helping patients, staff and volunteers at this incredibly challenging time. Our grants were issued in three phases to support urgent needs, community partnerships and NHS recovery.
We know nearly a million – that’s two thirds of NHS staff – have benefited from counselling and rest areas. We’ve helped 600,000 patients to access care and reduce isolation, and we’ve provided training and equipment for thousands of life-saving community first responder volunteers. And we’ve funded projects in the community to help people stay well and reduce pressure on the NHS.
Over 90% of these projects are having long lasting impact, and we continue to support the long-term recovery of the NHS.
Download our covid-19 appeal progress report to read more about the impact of the British public’s record-breaking fundraising during this time.
Watch this video to see how the Covid appeal continues to make a difference.
Thank You
Hundreds of thousands of people got behind the NHS, from clapping on doorsteps to donating to our ‘One million claps’ campaign. Captain Sir Tom Moore raised nearly £40 million for our Covid appeal, and thousands of other supporters, including six-year-old Frank Mills and three-year old Daisy Briggs, made personal sacrifices to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds in their own ways – from walking or running to sky diving, dancing or baking.
Joe Wicks generously donated proceeds from his amazing efforts to get the nation exercising and Jordan Henderson coordinated Premier League footballers to fundraise for the NHS. In total we raised an unbelievable £160 million.
We would like to thank the amazing individual and corporate supporters who enabled this to happen. You have made a huge difference to NHS patients and staff.
Grants awarded
Grants awarded
We rolled out our first ever grants funding programme with urgency to ensure your donations could have an immediate impact, with the first of our grant awards being made from 1 April 2020. Since then, we have awarded £124 million and allocated £149 million.
Meeting immediate needs
We made £42 million available to meet both the immediate need the pandemic brought and ease the pressure of further waves and the inevitable long-term impact of Covid-19. Twelve million pounds was held back in case of later waves of Covid and used from November 2020 onwards.
We distributed funding by nation and region, based on factors including the staff headcount of the NHS trust, health board and linked organisations. And we worked closely with our members to understand where their need was greatest.
Longer-term recovery
From September 2020 we also started to make available funding for the longer-term recovery of the NHS and allocated £35 million to this area.
In 2021 we continued to distribute the remaining appeal funds through our member charities, making sure the money donated by our supporters has the greatest impact in the areas where it will really make a difference.
Community partnerships
In September 2020 we launched community partnership grants and allocated £33million to support partnerships between the NHS and community organisations, helping to take pressure off the health service.
Click here to see a list of the 68 charities who are leading this programme.
Read details of the grants awarded to each member charity so far in the table below using the zoom button functionality. This information is also available to download via this link and will be updated on an annual basis.
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