Covid Aid monthly update: September 2022

As the UK's Covid-19 charity August was our busiest month to date, full of challenges but also some amazing highlights. Here's what has been happening, how we are assisting – and what you can do to help us help even more of the two million people in the country affected by Long Covid, the hundreds of thousands experiencing grief and bereavement, and all those affected by a range of life-changing issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The headlines!

Over the past month we:

Have secured vital funding: We have been awarded funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to continue our work and allow us to grow the charity and in turn support more people
Published new Advice & Info for those affected by issues such as gastric symptoms related to Long Covid, back to school tips for kids and their mental health, reasons why long haulers struggle with grief, and important new research into the causes of Long Covid
Share our Expert Q&A with sense loss and distortion charity Fifth Sense, providing guidance for those experiencing smell, taste, and other issues as a result of Covid-19
Grew our Support Community: Our Covid Aid Support Community now has over 945 members, and we reached more than 20,000 people with advice, information, and support during August alone!
Said goodbye to our Head of Fundraising: Our wonderful team member Dani is off to new pastures, and we bid her a fond farewell

Support Community

Virtual Drop In Cafe - Restructuring

We have temporarily paused our Virtual Drop In Cafe while we undertake a restructuring of the support sessions we offer via the online support community.

If you have any questions or suggestions then please contact our Head of Community, Emma, at emma@covidaidcharity.org

New Long Covid Support Session

We have recently launched a new monthly Long Covid support session, hosted by one of our volunteers, Kelsey. The first session will be held on Thursday 22nd September at 11:30am via Zoom. Kelsey says:

"It's very common for people with Long Covid (myself included) to have been told the words: "It's something you need to learn to live with" or "Your results are coming back normal".

Or something to that effect, when you feel like such a stranger in your own body.

I'm here to tell you you're not alone... so please join me, grab a cuppa and let's have an open discussion about all things Long Covid."

You can view more information on how to attend the support session here.

Wren Project Pilot Review

We are currently reviewing our Wren Project/Covid aid pilot project as it has now come to an end. We welcomed the last of the Wren Project groups to our support community.

What Content would you like to see more of?

If you have any suggestions on what events, talks, courses and content you’d like to see more of over the coming Autumn and Winter months then please do get in touch with Emma at emma@covidaidcharity.org

Advice and Information

New articles from our team

Our Content team continues to publish up to date and relevant Advice & Info, including important articles from our writers Mo, Sally, and others. Here are a selection that you might be interested in:

Recruitment Opportunities

Head of Content and Communications

Following on from Sheryl moving on from our team, we are beginning our search for a new Head of Content and Communication.

If anyone is interested in finding out about the role, read the description here and you can email Michael at michael@covidaidcharity.org for more information

Volunteering

We are currently advertising for a number of different volunteer roles such as Community Awareness Officers, Funding Administrator and Social Media Officer.

Find out more about each role and how to apply here.

Fundraising

Awarded funding from the National Lottery Community Fund!

We were recently awarded £10,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund, allowing us to continue to provide support to anyone affected by Covid-19.

This new National Lottery funding will allow the charity to create new online courses on issues facing those with Long Covid, host new expert Q&As – previously partnering with the likes of Mind and Cruse for these – and to create specific groups and resources.

You can read more about our grant award here.

We also continue to research and submit a number of other funding applications.

Fundraisers of the Week

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A post shared by Covid Aid (@covidaidcharity)

Amongst our Fundraisers of the Week was Cat Vezmar, who is holding her first solo art show from 6th-15th October. We're privileged that she will be donating a percentage of the profits from the show to CovidAid!

Further details of the exhibition can be found here - https://buff.ly/3q3rh7

Raising awareness in the press

Herald article

We are excited to say that we were featured in the Herald this month, Scotland’s largest broadsheet newspaper! Michael spoke to the Herald about the continued need for support for those who have been affected by Covid-19 – highlighting the urgent need for extra funding. (Which is why the National Lottery news was so welcome!)

You can read the article here.

BBC appearance

The BBC recently released a story about a young singer who has Long Covid, which has damaged her voice. She is no longer able to sing and sometimes struggles to speak. Michael was interviewed as part of the news story. You can watch it here: 'Singing is my life, but Covid took away my voice' - BBC News

UK Commission on Covid Commemoration

Covid Aid have recently joined the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration. One of our ambassadors, Gavin, attended the latest meeting last month.

The UK Commission on Covid Commemoration has been established to secure a broad consensus from across the whole of the United Kingdom on how we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic and mark this distinctive period in our history at a national and community level. The Commission is expected to report to the Prime Minister by the end of March 2023.

We will be attending an Edinburgh Stakeholder meeting in mid September to provide our thoughts.

Farewell to Dani!

We say a fond farewell to Danielle Chamberlain, our Head of Fundraising, as she moves onto a new role this month.

Thanks to Dani’s enthusiasm and perseverance we’ve been able to raise enough to now continue providing support into 2023. Whether it’s been events such as Make It In May or applications to the National Lottery, she’s been fantastic across a wide range of activities and has set us in great stead for the future.

Dani has been a pivotal part of the team, and without her Covid Aid simply wouldn’t be able to continue reaching providing support to tens of thousands of people across the UK each month

We wish Dani all the best!

This September…

Our September theme for the Covid Aid Community Platform is 'Self-management'. We will be taking a look into the pros and cons, the additional support available to you and how else we might support one another during challenging times outside of professional care.

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 💛💚💛