Christmas is a tough time for those of us living with a smell or taste disorder. Smells and tastes are such a big part of the festive season, and not being able to taste your Christmas meal, enjoy the scent of the fragrance purchased for a loved one or even smell your Christmas tree can make it a difficult, isolating time. And it is even harder when there is such a lack of recognition, support and treatments for these sensory impairments.

Fifth Sense is fighting to change this. We’ve made a lot of progress in 2023, delivering vital support and information to help people with smell disorders stay safe at home as part of our Smell Safety project. We have delivered education and training to over 40 NHS Post-Covid Services, helping them to better understand and support those living with impaired smell and taste. More recently we have launched a partnership with ENT UK focused on improving care for people with smell and taste disorders across the United Kingdom.

We’re a small team, having a big impact, but there’s much more to do and we need your support. This Christmas, please show your support for Fifth Sense and the people we represent and give generously. Your donations will help us grow and develop our support and information service, deliver more education and training to professionals and help support vital research into smell and taste disorders.

Hannah lost her sense of smell as the result of a viral infection in 2011, many years before Covid-19 resulted in so many experiencing the same. Hers has never returned. Hannah saw doctors for over a year before being told there was nothing that could be done to help her. Losing her sense of smell has caused depression and anxiety and she had a safety scare at home due to being unable to smell leaking gas.

Through Fifth Sense Hannah has been able to attend our support events and feel less alone. She and her family have used our safety advice to take steps to keep her safe at home. She's also met some of the scientists we are working with and learned first hand about their plans to develop new treatments for people with olfactory disorders.

Hannah is now getting involved as a volunteer with Fifth Sense and is holding her very own fundraising event to support us this Christmas.

Fundraise for Fifth Sense!

If you would like to help raise funds for Fifth Sense and help us to support many more people like Hannah, here are a few festive fundraising ideas that you might like to try:

• Hold a Christmas bake-off and sell your homemade goodies to raise funds for Fifth Sense

• Organise a ‘Christmas jumper at work’ day and ask everyone to donate to the charity

• Hold a Christmas buffet or wine tasting event for friends, family and colleagues – but make people try the food and drinks with their noses held to give them some insight into life without a sense of smell

• Go carol singing on your street and spread some festive cheer whilst raising awareness of Fifth Sense and our cause

• A special one for our friends in the fragrance industry – why not hold a festive fragrance sale on behalf of Fifth Sense?

You can create your own fundraising page on JustGiving and link it to this one. Just click the orange 'Start Fundraising' button near the top of this page on the right.