Mind thanks generous donors as emergency fundraising appeal totals incredible £26 million
Mind thanks generous donors as emergency fundraising appeal totals incredible £26 million
Mental health charity Mind has today (Thursday 29 October) announced that its emergency fundraising appeal has raised a total of £26 million. The success of the appeal has been thanks to a significant number of donations from different organisations and funders, together with thousands of individuals who have also given generously throughout.
The money raised has helped make sure the mental health charity is able to quickly respond to everyone who needs them at a time of increased demand, for example, by launching a coronavirus information hub which has been viewed over 1.7 million times since going live in March.
Mind has been able to support its network of local Minds, its national partners in Scotland (SAMH) and Northern Ireland (Inspire), and many other mental health charities, through the distribution of £10 million of the emergency appeal donations, in grants.
Donations have also helped the charity’s confidential information and support lines, Mind Infoline and legal line to keep running, while also adapting to a digital offering to meet the changing needs of those getting in touch in response to lockdown and the pandemic. Infoline advisors have seen not just an increase in enquiries, but also longer call duration, indicating that people are getting in touch with more complex requests, or wanting support with a range of things that might be contributing to their worsening mental health.
Mind’s online peer support community – Side by Side - will also be supported by emergency appeal donations, helping to keep this vital service running and supporting the transition to a new platform which will better support users and respond to the increase in demand.
The emergency appeal funds have also helped the wider mental health sector through the Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped us – from businesses, charitable trusts, foundations, statutory funders and generous members of the public - for their support in getting behind our emergency appeal and raising millions of pounds. This has helped us cope with rising demand and make sure we’re there for as many people who need us as possible at a time when our shops were closed and major events were cancelled. As the second wave of coronavirus has an impact on the lives of many people and on their mental health, the appeal will help us sustain the level of support for the rest of this financial year, so more people can get the help they need.
“We know from our coronavirus survey of around 16,000 people that over half of adults and two thirds of young people said their mental health got worse during the pandemic, with many developing problems for the first time. A fifth of adults who tried to access support were unable to do so and when asked why, many said they were deterred from asking for help from the NHS because they didn’t feel their problem was important enough. As a result, we’ve seen many people try to access support through alternative routes, like voluntary sector services. This emergency appeal has helped us to protect and support everyone with a mental health problem, during this extremely difficult time.
“Charities across the sector have seen their incomes hugely affected by coronavirus, largely due to things like the temporary closure of charity shops and postponement and cancellation of fundraising events. Mind is no exception – we are predicting a fall in our income of around 15 per cent. We are so incredibly grateful and humbled by the outpouring of donations which has helped raise an incredible £26 million for our vital work. Despite our hugely successful fundraising appeal, however, and the hard work and generosity of our amazing donors and supporters, we are in an uncertain financial situation which means we have had to make some difficult decisions about our spending and staffing. We’re especially thankful to anyone who is able to support us and help us make sure we can continue our vital work as we deal with the mental health fall-out of the pandemic in the medium to long term.”
Mind thanks the following organisations and funders that have donated to the emergency fundraising appeal:
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Department of Health and Social Care
National Emergencies Trust
Barclays Community Aid Package
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Pears Foundation
Comic Relief
Masonic Charitable Foundation
Direct Line Group Community Fund
Bensons for Beds
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
The Thompson Family Charitable Trust
The Gninwod Trust
Stone Family Foundation
Welsh Government administered by WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action)
Kensington Mortgage Company
Reckitt Benckiser
Atlantis Radio
Bupa Foundation
The list can also be found on this page of the Mind website.
