Over the past few weeks, everyone at Dingley's Promise has been working hard in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sadly, on Wednesday 18th March we closed all of our Centres due to the high risk to our children many of whom have conditions that make them particularly vulnerable. This was a painful decision to make as we know that many of our families will struggle without respite or contact. Our families describe our support as a lifeline, and while we recognise how vital this is to them, we had little choice but to close for the sake of their health and safety.

We then focused our efforts on setting up new systems so that we can provide the best possible support for our families remotely.

Now more than ever, our families have to know that they are part of something, and that they will be supported so we are committed to making the difficult shift from face to face work to remote support for them. Families of children with SEND are typically more isolated than other families, and due to the high care needs of some of our children they will be caring 24/7 with no break at all during the pandemic. Needless to say, this is going to lead to a huge increase in stress levels and pressure on our families, and we will do everything we can to support their mental health and wellbeing.

What has become apparent this week is that we are also going to have to expect a shortfall in funding for the charity as events and challenges are cancelled, corporate partners and individuals face challenging times financially and other donors concentrate on the immediate needs of those affected by COVID-19. This puts our vital remote support in jeopardy, as well as the long term ability of the organisation to function once we are able to open our settings again. This would be disastrous for the children with SEND and their families we support now, and for thousands more who will need us in the future.

Therefore, we need to appeal to all of our supporters to help us to continue to support our families in these challenging times, and to be ready to provide life-changing support to children when we are allowed to restart our Centre-based activities again. Your help today will ensure our families are not forgotten in what are going to be some of the toughest days they have ever had.

We wish you all good health over the coming weeks.

Your donation will go directly towards funding Dingleys Promises work to support children and families affected by COVID-19. In the unlikely event that the funds raised exceed our funding requirements for this appeal, your gift will go to support the core costs for each of our Centres.