Covid Aid monthly update: July 2022
As the UK's leading Covid-19 charity it was a busier month than ever, with rates again increasing across the country. Here's how we're assisting – and how you can help us support even more people affected by Long Covid, grief and bereavement, and other devastating and debilitating issues.
The headlines!
Over the past month we:
Have now supported more than 125,000 people: Covid Aid reached a milestone, with our web hub reaching more than ever looking for vital support
Signed up 750+ members: Our Covid Aid Support Community continues to flourish, with more than 750 members across the UK signed up
Attended Awards Season: We attended two awards ceremonies, including being a finalist for Charity of the Year at the Scottish Charity Awards
Said a fond goodbye: We said farewell to our fantastic Head of Content Sheryl, who helped us support so many people
Support Community
Virtual Drop In Cafe
Our virtual drop in cafe continues to run every Thursday at 6pm. It is a relaxed and informal meet up hosted by one of our volunteers, Maria, and provides a safe space to speak about issues as well as to have a catch-up with other members of the Covid Aid Support Community. Sign up here for free!
Live Events
We hosted a Live Q&A with Experts from the charity Mind UK on the effects of Covid-19 on mental health, who spoke about the range of support that they offer, as well as answering a range of great and important questions from community members. Watch the recording of that event here, and this month are hosting a Q&A with sensory loss charity Fifth Sense to help people experiencing smell and taste disorders related to Long Covid. You can ask questions and sign up here.
New Courses
Our Head of Community Emma this month launched two important courses – which as with all our courses are free to access.
Claiming PIP for Long Covid
Produced with Elle De Sousa, a fully qualified and licensed therapist at Positive Life Approaches, this course offers practical guidance with PIP, dealing with DWP Assessments and managing anxiety. Sign up here.
How to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Learn the tools and techniques needed to reduce your stress and anxiety during uncertain times, thanks to this short course by the team at House of Self Therapy. Sign up here.
Advice and Information
An amazing milestone – and fond farewell
We have now provided more than 125,000 people with support. Read more about it here!
Key to this achievement was our Head of Content Sheryl, who has worked brilliantly to provide high-quality advice and information through articles as well as the Covid Matters podcast. We can’t thank her enough, and are wishing her well in future as she moves on to exciting new opportunities 👋
Want to get involved?
We have a fantastic team of Content Writers who have been writing high quality, accessible content on a range of topics such as the link between Covid-19 and New Onset Diabetes. Interested in becoming a Content Editor or Writer for us? Get in touch if you’d like to find out more!
Volunteering
Welcome to the Team!
We are delighted to welcome Mo Kendall to the Covid Aid team as a Content Writer and Samina Polson as our Community Awareness and Operations volunteer! Samina will be working on raising awareness of Covid Aid and what support we offer in local communities - focusing firstly on respiratory wards in hospitals.
Volunteers’ Week
We celebrated Volunteers’ Week at the beginning of June by showcasing some of our amazing volunteers and the contribution they have made! Find their stories over on our Instagram channel.
A huge thank you to our 60+ volunteers for all their hard work!
Our new clothing line
One of our fantastic volunteers, Maria, recently designed and launched our clothing line through Teemill. There are a range of t-shirts, hoodies and long sleeved tops, with a portion of the profit going directly to Covid Aid.
All of the products are made sustainably - they use natural materials, plastic free packaging and renewable energy to power production.
Take a look at our range over at covidaid.teemill.com!
Fundraising
Fundraising Events
There are a number of fundraising events coming up all over the UK that individuals can take part in and raise money for Covid Aid! Interested in signing up? We have already had a lot of interest through Run for Charity. – you can fundraise for us in events all across the UK this summer and beyond.
This July we need your support more than ever
With more than two million people in the UK now living with Long Covid, and thousands more families losing loved ones to coronavirus every week, the need for support is greater than ever.
Find out how you can get involved, please donate if you can – and spread the word about Covid Aid to your friends and family by sharing this email! We are enormously grateful for your support 💛💚💛
Published 07 July 2022
Written By Michael MacLennan
