How you can help

We rely totally on money raised by donations, fundraising events and grants.
We do not charge families for the service we provide to children and young people. We do not receive any funding from the Government, health or social services.

Thank you to Debbie (volunteer worker) who helped me at the weekend, she was kind and listened to me. It felt ok to be upset and angry when I wanted to and I wasn’t told off if I was upset. She talked to me about losing my mum and it helped me feel better. I really liked doing all the art activities, it was fun.

Lauren (age 10)

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Fundraise
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Because we rely totally on donations your gift means a lot to us. Any amount given to us means one step forward in keeping our service running. Can you help with a contribution?

You can donate to us in many ways

Make a secure online donation via Virgin Money Giving NOW
If you would prefer to donate by cheque – you can send a cheque payable to HOLG to us at:

FREEPOST Holding On Letting Go (No stamp required)
Gift Aid – boost your donation by 25p for every pound you donate, at no extra cost to you. Gift Aid is reclaimed by the charity from the tax you pay for the current tax year.

There are other ways in which you can donate towards our work:

Making a regular gift and becoming a friend of Holding On Letting Go – regular donations are extremely valuable to us as they enable us to plan our services in the longer term.

Please download the standing order form

Making an in memoriam gift – remember a loved one and help support a grieving child.

Leaving a gift in your will – family and friends always come first, but once they are cared for, if you leave a gift to our charity it could help improve the life of a grieving child.

Please contact Caroline Gaskin for further information.

Here is how your donation is spent:

£2 pays for the materials needed for 1 memory jar
£5 pays for the food and drink for one child attending our bereavement weekend
£10 pays for a Holding on letting go teddy bear given to each child at the end of a bereavement weekend
£50 pays for transport to and from the venue for a weekend for a family
£100 pays for the training of a volunteer member of staff
£300 pays for a bereaved child to attend one of our therapeutic weekends

Can you help us raise much-needed funds to ensure this service continues to provide an essential service to bereaved children, young people and their families across Kent and Medway?

Thank you for taking an interest in fundraising for Holding On Letting Go.

We’re a very small team trying to do a really big job in Kent, so any contribution you can make will be greatly appreciated. Here we’ll try to give some general pointers on raising money for Holding On Letting Go, but if you’d like to just have a chat about the different ways you can fundraise for us, please feel free to contact our Fundraising Officer, Caroline Gaskin, on 03445 611511 or email caroline.gaskin@holg.org.uk

Individuals

There are many ways that you, as an individual, can raise funds for Holding On Letting Go. Here are just a few ideas for you to consider:

Organise a collection/donations from friends and family

Perhaps instead of presents for your next birthday/celebration/party, you could ask friends and family to make a donation to Holding On Letting Go instead? It’s such a simple idea, that requires little effort from you, but can make significant difference to the bereaved children we support.

Take part in an organised challenge event

One of the most straight-forward ways to fundraise for us is to join in with an organised fundraising event and make Holding On Letting Go your nominated charity. You could take part in a marathon, half marathon, bike ride or even a 5KM fun run /colour run. The KM Charity Team hold many of these challenge events every year from a charity walk, to an abseil. All you need to do is to register for the event, set up a BT myDonate page showing Holding On Letting Go as the charity you are supporting and start recruiting sponsors.

Do an individual sponsored activity

It may be that you have an idea of your own that are certain would drum up significant sponsorship such as a drastic haircut or perhaps shaving/waxing for charity. You could use this sponsorship form (link to form) and/or set up a fundraising page at BT myDonate. Make sure you leave sufficient time to build up momentum to achieve maximum fundraising potential before taking the plunge with that challenge!

Organise a fundraising event for friends/family/local community

There are many events you might choose to organise. A few examples are a quiz night, race night, BBQ, afternoon tea or a coffee morning… the list goes on! If you fancy doing something like this, but need a few pointers to get started, please contact Caroline, our Fundraising Officer, who’d be happy to talk through some ideas with you and offer hints and tips on how to make your fundraiser as successful as can be.

Shopping on-line

Holding On Letting Go is registered with both giveasyoulive.org and easyfundraising.org. Both of these platforms have thousands of on-line shops on their sites. If you shop online at any of these stores, a donation will be made to us, as long as you have registered Holding On Letting Go as the cause you wish to support. Both websites are simple to use, and you can even install a reminder mechanism, so that should you ever shop online at a relevant store, it will remind you to get our donation from them. There will be no change to the cost that you pay – our donation always comes from the retailer.

Company matched giving

f you raise money for our charity and work for any type of corporate company that runs a matched funding scheme (just ask at your HR department if such a scheme exists), your company may be able to match all/some of the amount you have raised for Holding On Letting Go. This is an excellent way to make the most of your fundraising efforts.

Gift aid

If you receive any donations from others for our charity, and the donor is not receiving anything in return, for example if they have sponsored you to do something or simply made a donation, don’t forget that if they are a UK taxpayer, ask them to tick the giftaid box so that we can claim an additional 25pence for every pound they have already donated.

Community Fundraising

If you’re part of an association, sports club or any group of people who would like to join forces and raise money for a worthwhile local charity, here’s some ideas for you:

Make us your charity of the year

You could make donations or take part in some of the other fundraising activities suggested here to raise money for a year for Holding On Letting Go. You may enjoy it so much, that you decide to do it all over again next year!

Create and organise your own fundraising event

As there could be a group of you involved in this, you might wish to take on organising a larger event, such as a fair or fete, a circus, a fashion show, a local football tournament (or other sporting tournament), a golf day, a barn dance, a ball… the list goes on. We can provides hints and tips for organising any of this type of event, so please let us know what you’re thinking of and we’ll help you all we can.

Take part in an organised challenge event

One of the most straight-forward ways to fundraise for us is to join in with an organised fundraising event and make Holding On Letting Go your nominated charity. You could take part in a race, bike ride, abseil or a team event, such as a Dragon Boat Race. The KM Charity Team hold many of these challenge events every year. All you need to do is to register for the event, set up a BT MyDonate page showing Holding On Letting Go as the charity you are supporting and start recruiting sponsors.

Company matched giving

If you raise money for our charity and work for any type of corporate company that runs a matched funding scheme (just ask at your HR department if such a scheme exists), your company may be able to match all/some of the amount you have raised for Holding On Letting Go. This is an excellent way to make the most of your fundraising efforts.

Gift aid

Shopping on-line

Please encourage all members of your group/association/community to support us whilst shopping online. Holding On Letting Go is registered with both giveasyoulive.org and easyfundraising.org. Both of these platforms have thousands of on-line shops on their sites. If you shop online at any of these stores, a donation will be made to us, as long as you have registered Holding On Letting Go as the cause you wish to support. Both websites are simple to use, and you can even install a reminder mechanism, so that should you ever shop online at a relevant store, it will remind you to get our donation from them. There will be no change to the cost that you pay – our donation always comes from the retailer.

Corporate Fundraising

If your organisation is looking for a charity that provides vital support to children in Kent, then look no further. We know that you will want to support a charity where your contribution can make a real impact, where your employees can see that their individual efforts are making a difference and where the charity will work with you to ensure that company’s charitable objectives are met. These objectives may vary, so we would welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss them with you, but here are some suggestions on how your business could work with us.

Make us your charity of the year

Company employees could make donations or take part in some of the other fundraising activities suggested here to raise money for a year for Holding On Letting Go.

Sponsor Holding On Letting Go

There are lots of sponsorship opportunities, your company could:

sponsor a certain aspect of our bereavement support weekends
sponsor our promotional work which helps to spread the word on Holding On Letting Go to ensure that all of those who might need to make use of our support actually knows that we’re there for them
sponsor a fundraising event so that we can raise more funds to help us help more children

We would be happy to work with your company to find out what will match your charitable objectives whilst benefitting the highest number of bereaved children in Kent.

Create and organise your own fundraising event

Take part in an organised challenge event

One of the most straight-forward ways to fundraise for us is to join in with an organised fundraising event and make Holding On Letting Go your nominated charity. You could take part in a race, bike ride, abseil or a team event, such as a Dragon Boat Race. The KM Charity Team hold many of these challenge events every year. All you need to do is to register for the event, set up a BT MyDonate page showing Holding On Letting Go as the charity you are supporting and start recruiting sponsors.

Company matched giving

Gift aid

Shopping on-line

Please encourage all members of your organisation to support us whilst shopping online. Holding On Letting Go is registered with both giveasyoulive.org and easyfundraising.org. Both of these platforms have thousands of on-line shops on their sites. If you shop online at any of these stores, a donation will be made to us, as long as you have registered Holding On Letting Go as the cause you wish to support. Both websites are simple to use, and you can even install a reminder mechanism, so that should you ever shop online at a relevant store, it will remind you to get our donation from them. There will be no change to the cost that you pay – our donation always comes from the retailer.

Schools

As children are at the very heart of everything that we do, it is natural that school communities will understand the importance of our work and may wish to support us. It may be that you have your own idea on how your school wishes to fundraise for us. If so, please contact our Fundraising Officer to talk this through. We’ll be happy to work with you to make your idea a reality and raise funds together. You might like to look at our A-Z of fundraising ideas (link), or here are just a few suggestions that could get you started.

Make us your charity of the year

Sometimes pupils are allowed to nominate school/ house charities. Please consider nominating Holding On Letting Go. We would happily discuss any fundraising activities that might be suitable to raise money for Holding On Letting Go.

Organise a fundraising event for friends/family/local community

There are many events you might choose to organise. A few examples are a quiz night, race night, BBQ, a sponsored bounce or a coffee morning… the list goes on! If you fancy doing something like this, but need a few pointers to get started, please contact Caroline, our Fundraising Officer, who’d be happy to talk through some ideas with you and offer hints and tips on how to make your fundraiser as successful as can be.

Take part in an organised challenge event

One of the most straight-forward ways to fundraise for us is to join in with an organised fundraising event and make Holding On Letting Go your nominated charity. You could take part in a race, bike ride, abseil or a team event, such as a Dragon Boat Race. The KM Charity Team hold many of these challenge events every year. All you need to do is to register for the event, set up a BT MyDonate page showing Holding On Letting Go as the charity you are supporting and start recruiting sponsors.

Company matched giving

Gift aid

Shopping on-line

Please encourage all members of your school community to support us whilst shopping online. Holding On Letting Go is registered with both giveasyoulive.org and easyfundraising.org. Both of these platforms have thousands of on-line shops on their sites. If you shop online at any of these stores, a donation will be made to us, as long as you have registered Holding On Letting Go as the cause you wish to support. Both websites are simple to use, and you can even install a reminder mechanism, so that should you ever shop online at a relevant store, it will remind you to get our donation from them. There will be no change to the cost that you pay – our donation always comes from the retailer.

Take part in an event

Holding On Letting Go sometimes runs fundraising events that you can take part in to support us. Currently, we are promoting:

Medway Little Theatre Charity Preview Night – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Tuesday 23rd January 2018 – Details coming soon!

In addition, we have links with the KM Charity Team, who organise several fun and challenge events throughout the year. These range from a charity walk, to a quiz night to a team for a Dragon Boat Race. You can take your choice, register for that event, stating that you wish to support Holding On Letting Go and then start promoting your BT myDonate fundraising page. Our fundraising officer would be happy to help you to set up your page. Further information on KM challenge events can be found here, but please contact our Fundraising Officer to talk through your options and your plans.

Without our amazing volunteers we would not be able to help as many families and indivudals as we can. If you feel like you want to contribute – please do get in touch! We’d love to have to on our team.

In addition to much needed funds we would be unable to provide care and support without the dedication and hard work of our highly-trained volunteers – they are the mainstay of our charity. We have many volunteer roles available including:

Grief support
Fundraising
Administration
Catering
Domestic activities
Transport

In return for your valuable time we will provide full training for your specific role, uniform, additional training opportunities and social events.

If you can spare some time and are interested in a vital and rewarding role within Holding On Letting Go please contact Caroline Norman or download our volunteer application form.