Category: Fundraising

Christmas came early for parent carer Emma and her two disabled children. The lucky family won the massive £10,000 jackpot in the Contact’s Weekly Lottery just two weeks into December!

As a disabled person herself and with two autistic sons, Emma decided to play our lottery to give back to the community and support other families like hers. Little did she know her generosity would turn into a Christmas miracle.

Watch Emma’s amazing reaction when we called her to share the exciting news as the family were on their way to the chippy:

Emma’s seven-year-old Kaenan has ASD and severe learning difficulties. Her eldest son Kyron is autistic, has ADHD and is very destructive, meaning he needs a new bed every year.

Their unexpected earnings meant Emma was able to invest in a sturdy new bed and mattress for him, as well as several other well-deserved treats.

Her son Kyron said: “The winnings helped us get a little bit extra spoilt this Christmas! We got a Nintendo Switch and I got a nice new strong bed with a new mattress. Mummy got a new washing machine, new cooker and tumble dryer too. And we have a family holiday booked for all of us to go to Gran Canaria, which is all-inclusive with a waterpark! Thank you so much Contact for helping our family.”

We’re thrilled to see a parent carer winning £10,000 in our lottery once again and to have made yet another family’s Christmas — just like we did the year before, when mum Samantha and her two disabled girls won big just in time for the festivities.

In fact, we’ve given away more than £100,000 in prizes to thousands of families since launching our lottery in 2020. And if you join us, you could be next!

Sign up today for just £1 a week, and you’ll have a chance of winning between £5 and £10,000 every single Friday.

And by playing the Contact Weekly Lottery, you’ll be helping to fund our vital support services for families with disabled children. It’s a win/win!

Huge congratulations once again to Emma and her family! And good luck to all our wonderful players in this week’s draw.

Families with disabled children in the UK are more likely to be struggling financially than parents without disabled children. The impact of this goes beyond simply being unable to afford the basics.  

Through our Family Finance Helpline, our range of accessible online resources and our webinars, families gain the confidence, resilience, and knowledge to alleviate the financial disadvantage that they face. 99% of surveyed parent carers who used our family finance service felt better informed about their rights to benefits and grants.

Did you know a £70 donation could fund a phone call with one our specialist benefits advisers, helping unlock potentially thousands in welfare entitlements? *

The difference your donations will make

Save the Big Give date

For our Winter Appeal 2024, we’re partnering with our kind Big Give match-funding partners.

From Tuesday 3 to Tuesday 10 December they’ll double every pound you donate to our appeal.

This means that donating £35 could fund a potentially life-changing phone call for a family.

Donating just £12 – which the Big Give will double to £24 – could fund one hour of practical and emotional support for a family with a disabled child in a specialist hospital.

How do I donate?

We’ll share the link to our Big Give donation page from midday Tuesday 3 December. Sign up to our newsletters to stay up-to-date.

Mum Sara Nicholl was delighted when we called to tell her she was the latest parent carer to win £1,000 in the Contact Weekly Lottery! She told us:

“I have won £5 before, but I wasn’t expecting to win this big. I’m speechless! I joined the Contact Weekly Lottery after hearing about it on Facebook around six months ago, and I’m so glad I did.”

Lottery winner Sara stood with her partner and two children in a doorway, smiling and looking at the camera
Lottery winner Sara with her family

Parents of autistic children supporting families like theirs

Sara’s son is autistic and has ADHD, so she is very familiar with Contact and started playing the weekly lottery to support our vital work.

Around half of the families that access Contact’s services have an autistic child, making it incredibly rewarding when families like Sara’s hit the jackpot!

Sara joins other amazing parents of autistic children, like Maria, Laura, Georgia, and Samantha, who have all celebrated big wins in our lottery.

Join the fun for just £1 a week and you could be next…

Nearly £100,000 in prizes and counting

Since launching the lottery in 2020, we’ve celebrated over 8,000 winners and given away more than £92,000!

Join the Contact Lottery and you’ll have a chance of winning up to £10,000 every single week!

Vital services our lottery helps to fund

We’re seeing an unprecedented demand for our free services. Parents and carers are facing a constant battle to get support, not knowing where to turn, and reaching crisis point.

The Contact Weekly Lottery has become a vital source of income for our charity, funding services like our parent advisers, who help prevent stress, isolation and financial crisis.

“Contact was literally a lifeline. I was given information and understanding.

Most importantly I was given hope and support. I will never be able to say thank you enough.”

You can make a real difference for just £1 a week and be in with a chance of winning up to £10,000 every Friday.

A huge congratulations to Siobhan, our latest £1,000 Contact Weekly Lottery winner!

Siobhan is a parent carer to three amazing children with additional needs, including one with complex medical needs. After discovering Contact on social media and finding valuable help and advice for her family, she decided to invest a few pounds a month in our charity lottery.

Siobhan shared her excitement with us:

“I honestly never thought we would be so lucky to win anything! It couldn’t have come at a better time for us, as this year has hit us hard financially.

The things I’ve learnt from Contact on social media have been invaluable. The work they do is fantastic!

So if anyone reading this can spare a few £s a month and wants to support a worthy cause, choose the Contact lottery!”

Three children standing with person in a cartoon squirrel costume
Siobhan’s family

What is the Contact Weekly Lottery?

Playing our lottery is a fun and exciting way to help support our vital work providing families with disabled children, including our UK-wide advice service, helpline, parent carer workshops, and family days out.

There are great cash prizes to be won each week, including our £10,000 jackpot, so don’t miss out on a chance to win big!

We recently had the pleasure of calling two amazing parent carers with some exciting news – they had both won £1,000 in the Contact Weekly Lottery on the same day!

Then just a couple of weeks later, we told another parent carer, Stephanie from Redcar, that she had also landed £1,000. It was such a shock that she didn’t believe us! She said:

“When I first heard I won £1,000 with the Contact Lottery I thought it was a joke! I actually had to call back to double check as I couldn’t believe it.

I heard about the Contact Lottery at a parent group. I thought I’d sign up as I get to support Contact, a charity that has helped my family before.

It’s easy to do, and I barely notice the £1 a week, but I know it makes a difference.”

Parent carer, Alison from Cheshire, was celebrating her birthday the weekend she found out the good news! She shared:

“I found out about Contact through my local Carers Centre and have used them many times for advice and information ?

For someone who never wins anything, this has literally made my family’s summer! Thank you so much!”

21 parent carers have won big

21 parent carers have now taken home one of our lucrative jackpots, and most of them have used Contact’s support services and advice in the past.

We’re delighted that they chose to give back to other families like theirs and were rewarded with such a big win.

Join the fun and you could be next!

Help us reach a vital milestone

We’re excited to share that over 3,000 players now fund Contact’s essential services through our weekly lottery.

These contributions are more important than ever as we respond to the growing demand and needs of families with disabled children.

But we have even bigger dreams! Our goal is to reach 5,000 players so we can extend our support to even more families who need us.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can make a difference for just £1 a week. Thank you!

We’re absolutely thrilled to share that our DinoDay Stomp & Roar Challenge has raised an amazing £20,325!!

A dinosaur-sized thank you to all the families and incredible children across the country who sported their DinoDay t-shirts and took on 19 activities to support our vital work.

Montage of lots of children wearing green DinoDay t-shirts while taking on the DinoDay Challenge 2024

Children helping other children

This year, we saw a huge increase in the number of disabled and neurodiverse children taking on the challenge to help other families like theirs.

Take five-year-old Fraser, for example. He is autistic and loves everything about buses. Teaming up with his mum, Nichola, they took on the adventure of travelling on 19 different bus routes and raised an incredible £173!

The determination of all the children who took part has been truly inspiring, with many choosing 19 acts of kindness for their challenge.

Montage of a child sat on a bus, looking at a bus, and wearing a green DinoDay t-shirt

Making memories together

When we asked parents what they loved most about participating in the challenge and the responses melted our hearts:

“Getting out and about on adventures and making memories.”
“Seeing my son helping others.”
“Bonding time, making time every day after school or at the weekend to do a special subject for a special cause.”
“Finding lots of new places to explore.”

We’re not just thrilled that the challenge has raised so much money. We’re also delighted to see families, including those with disabled children, having such a blast while doing it. 

The difference the money will make

With the growing demand for our support services, the funds raised through DinoDay will enable us to meet this need and reach even more families.

The money raised this DinoDay will help us continue running our vital services, which include:

And more!

Join the fun next year

If you’re looking to have fun with your family while supporting Contact, we’d love for you to join us next year! There’s no fundraising target – just take on a challenge themed around the number 19.

Plus, every little dino participating will receive a free t-shirt and activity tracker!

We’ll be inviting participants to sign up in early 2025, so stay tuned!

It’s been four years since we launched the Contact Lottery, our exciting game that gives players a chance of winning cash prizes every week, all while supporting Contact’s vital support services families with disabled children.

And what an incredible journey these past four years have been! We’ve given away £79,245 in cash prizes to 7,021 players – with 18 parent carers taking home one of our lucrative jackpots, including recent winners Michelle, Sophie and Samantha.

We now have 3,000 amazing players and nearly 100 prizes are being won every single week.

And for just £1 a week, you could join them!

Thank you to all our players

We’re seeing an unprecedented demand for our support due to the underfunding of public services and the escalating costs of caring for a disabled child. Our lottery has become a crucial source of income for Contact, helping us meet this need and enabling us to reach thousands more families.

We’re determined to grow our community of players to 5,000 by the end of 2025. You can help us achieve this goal by signing up today!

Parent carers giving back (and winning big!)

What makes the Contact Lottery so special? The fact that parent carers have been the top winners — taking home most of the £79,245 cash prizes awarded so far!

When we call a parent to deliver the exciting news that they’ve won, they often tell us they play our lottery to help support other families like theirs. As our first-ever £10,000 winner put it: “Knowing the money I pay each month can help so many families with disabled children is overwhelming. It makes me feel so proud that I can help someone with a disability, especially a child.”

Join the fun and be part of Contact’s history

Playing our lottery is as easy as spending £1 a week!

For each £1 entry, you’ll get a unique 6-digit number. Match three or more numbers, and you could win fabulous cash prizes ranging from £5 all the way up to an amazing £10,000.

Want to boost your chances and support Contact even more? Simply opt to play for £2 or £3 a week!

This little superhero is Imogen. She is autistic and has ADHD, so sitting still and concentrating was never her strong suit — that is, until she decided to colour in 19 different dinosaur drawings as part of this year’s DinoDay Challenge…

On the left, photo of a young girl wearing a green shirt smiling at the camera while holding crayons and colouring in a dinosaur drawing. She has dinosaur toys spread all over her desk. On the right, the young girl is wearing a dinosaur costume and is standing in front of a wall covered in coloured-in dinosaur drawings.

With her crayons on hand and dino toys on guard, the difference was like night and day: Imogen dedicated 110% of her attention to completing the challenge while impressing all of us with her remarkable dinosaur knowledge. It’s not every day that you meet a 4-year-old who can pronounce Spinosaurus!

“Thank you for bringing our little girl out of her shell and making her shine”

Laura, Imogen’s mum

Imogen also managed to raise an amazing £680 through her challenge, joining nearly 400 other kids who together have fundraised a truly incredible £17,900 in support of families with disabled children.

With just 4 days to go until our DinoDay Challenge fundraiser comes to an end, can you help celebrate their achievement by chipping in too?

Your support could help take our fundraiser over the £20,000 mark and make a huge difference to thousands of families who rely on Contact’s life-saving services.

Donating just £15 could already help a struggling family to cover their household bills with the support of our dedicated Family Finance advisers.

Show Imogen and all the children who took part in our DinoDay Challenge that you commend their efforts to help other families by chipping in whatever you can!

Today is DinoDay, our annual event to raise vital funds for Contact’s support services for families with disabled children. Hundreds of incredible families across the UK have been taking on 19 activities in the Stomp & Roar Challenge to raise money while having fun.

A huge, dinosaur-sized thank you to everyone who has taken part so far!

The importance of DinoDay

Today is all about raising awareness of Cameron Mathieson and his family’s successful campaign to stop Disability Living Allowance (DLA) payments from being taken away from children who spent over 12 weeks in hospital.

We supported Cameron and his family in challenging this unfair rule. As a result, no other family with a child who spends long periods in hospital has been denied this essential financial support.

Today is Cameron’s birthday, so we are thinking of his family during this difficult time. We also want to say thank you for everything they have done for other families in similar situations.

The money raised from DinoDay will help us continue to campaign for a fairer society and more support for families with disabled children.

Cameron Mathieson smiling in hospital with his toys

There’s still time to take on the DinoDay Challenge!

It’s not too late to get involved in our DinoDay Challenge before our fundraiser officially closes on 15 July! Simply register for your free t-shirt and then set up your fundraiser. We’ll ship your t-shirt and activity tracker once you have one donation.

The challenge you take on is entirely up to you – just make sure the number 19 is involved! Join our DinoDay Facebook group for challenge inspiration and to meet the other families who are taking part.

Could you support us with a small donation instead?

You can help us reach our £25,000 target by making a small donation to Contact (make sure you select DinoDay in the reason for donating).

A donation today could help us continue vital projects like By Your Side, supporting families while their child is seriously ill in hospital, like we did for Cameron Mathieson’s. Our parent advisers provide parents with emotional and practical support when they need it the most.

June has only just started and yet hundreds of families have already raised more than £10,000 for this month’s DinoDay Stomp & Roar Challenge!

Families up and down the country have been busy taking on exciting challenges of their choice this month as part of DinoDay, our annual fundraising event on 19 June – all while rocking their free dino t-shirts and activity trackers.

We’ve been blown away by the uniquely creative activities that this year’s participants have chosen to raise funds for our vital services. Some of our favourites include:

It’s been heart-warming to see children of all ages and abilities take on often difficult challenges because they want to help other families.

And the parents have enjoyed it too, with mum Debbie – whose son Alfie is taking on 19 different activities – telling us: “We have done a woodland walk, a river walk, a trip to the beach, visited arcades, discos, went on rides and even tried new foods. What a great way to get out of the house and explore all whilst raising money for a fabulous charity.”

There’s still time to join the fun

It’s not too late to get involved in our DinoDay Challenge and help us smash our £25,000 target before our fundraiser officially closes on 15 July!

All you’ll need to do is join the DinoDay Challenge Facebook group before registering for your free t-shirt and setting up your fundraiser. See our step-by-step instructions here for more information about how to take part.

Once you’ve received at least one donation to your fundraiser, we’ll automatically ship your t-shirt and activity tracker so your children can take on their challenges in style.

The challenge you take on is entirely up to you – just make sure the number 19 is involved!

The inspiration behind DinoDay

The inspiration behind DinoDay is a little boy called Cameron Mathieson, who had both Cystic Fibrosis and Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and sadly passed away when he was five years old after spending over two years in hospital.

With Contact’s support, Cam’s family successfully challenged the government through the courts to make things fairer for families with disabled children.

Cameron, who was born on 19 June, loved dinosaurs – or as he called them, Dowsers – and his favourite Dowser was a green triceratops called Troy!

Find out more about DinoDay and Cameron’s story.

It’s only 1 month until DinoDay, but there’s still lots of time to join the fun and fundraiser for Contact. All you have to do is take on 19 activities with your family before the 15 July!

Register to take part today and we’ll send your child a FREE t-shirt and activity tracker (once you’ve received a donation) so your little dino can complete their challenge in style!

Looking for inspiration? Look no further than some of our top fundraisers from last year’s challenge, who between them took on 19 new foods, 19 different sports and walked 19 laps of a pond.

Ziggy trying 19 new foods in the DinoDay Challenge 2023

Ziggy

After spending most of his life being tube-fed and completely orally averse, Ziggy’s parents challenged him to try 19 new foods for DinoDay last year and he absolutely smashed it!!

His family were really struggling to motivate Ziggy to eat a wider range of foods, so our challenge came at the perfect time for them.

“Every day Ziggy would say to us: ‘So what’s my new food today!’,” his mum Jackie told us. “He loved doing the challenge, and it was wonderful to see just how much support he received from our family and friends. He did so well and talked about it at school for weeks! We are so proud of him and grateful to you for the inspiration.”

Ellie

Ellie, who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy, raised a whopping £300 last year by taking on 19 days of sports!!

From swimming to hula-hooping, Ellie completed a different fitness challenge each day to prove once and for all that having a disability doesn’t make you any less DINO-mite.

Not only did she enjoy doing the activities, she also loved to see that other people believed in her ability to do them.

Ellie taking on 19 sports in the DinoDay Challenge 2023
Evelyn taking on 19 laps of her local lake in the DinoDay Challenge 2023

Evelyn

At just 20 months old, Evelyn’s DinoDay t-shirt was nearly touching the floor, but that didn’t stop her from stomping round 19 laps of a gigantic pond and raising over £300!


Evelyn’s mum told us. “We decided on walking 19 laps of our local parks duck pond – it was a big challenge for our one year old’s little legs, but she managed to complete the laps and enjoyed every minute of the walk and of course feeding the ducks!”

“If anyone is thinking about doing the challenge, I would totally recommend it! It’s so fun, you can choose your activity and raise money for a worthy cause. Now we just need to decide what to do this year!”

Sarah, parent to last year’s dino-mite stomper Evelyn

Are you roaring to go?

Taking part in the 2024 challenge is easy – here’s how:

  1. Join our DinoDay Stomp & Roar Challenge Facebook group – where you can meet other families taking part and share your progress. It’s filled with super cute photos and heartwarming stories that are guaranteed to brighten up your day!
  2. Register for your free t-shirt and activity tracker by completing this quick form
  3. Choose an activity for your challenge, whatever you choose is totally up to your family – walk 19 miles, draw 19 dinosaurs, try 19 new foods…just make sure the number 19 is involved!
  4. Set up your fundraising page here and ask your friends and family to sponsor you, or download a copy of our sponsorship form if you’d prefer to fundraise offline

We’ll automatically ship your t-shirt and activity tracker once you receive at least one donation to your fundraiser. If you’re itching to get them now, you can make a donation to your own fundraiser and we’ll ship it straight away – any amount will do!

Why dinosaurs and why the number 19?

DinoDay is our annual fundraising event inspired by a little boy called Cameron Mathieson and his amazing family. With Contact’s support, they launched a long and ultimately successful landmark legal challenge that guaranteed no other child would have their DLA suspended while in hospital.

Cameron, who had Cystic Fibrosis and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, sadly passed away when he was five years old after spending nearly three of those years in hospital.

Every year since then, we celebrate Cameron’s birthday on 19 June with DinoDay – a tribute to Cam’s love of dinosaurs, especially his green triceratops called Troy!

As well as supporting our vital services, the funds you raise this June will also help us campaign to tackle the inequalities that families with disabled children face, like we did for Mathieson’s family and thousands of others since.

Have any questions?

You will likely find all the answers you’re looking for in our DinoDay Challenge FAQs. But if not, just drop us an email at [email protected] contact our team on 020 7608 8786 and we’ll help you out!

The wait is finally over: registrations are now open to join this year’s DinoDay Stomp & Roar Challenge!

We’re excited to be running this exciting challenge for the second time after the incredible response we had to last year’s edition – with hundreds of families taking on creative activities to help raise over £15,000 in support of our vital services.

Register to take part today and we’ll send your child a FREE t-shirt and activity tracker (once your fundraiser gets at least one donation) so they can complete their challenge in style!

What’s the DinoDay Challenge?

The DinoDay Challenge is your chance to take on a fun activity of your choice in the run-up to DinoDay on 19 June to help us transform the lives of families with disabled children.

The activity you choose is totally up to your family – walk 19 miles, draw 19 dinosaurs, try 19 new foods… Whatever it is, just make sure the number 19 is involved!

How can I register to join?

Taking part in the 2024 challenge is easy – here’s how:

  1. Join our our DinoDay Stomp & Roar Challenge Facebook group
  2. Register for your free t-shirt and activity tracker by completing this quick form
  3. Choose an activity for your challenge
  4. Set up your fundraising page here and ask your friends and family to sponsor you, or download a copy of our sponsorship form if you’d prefer to fundraise offline

We’ll automatically ship your t-shirt and activity tracker once you receive at least one donation to your fundraiser. If you’re itching to get them now, you can make a donation to your own fundraiser and we’ll ship it straight away – any amount will do!

What’s DinoDay all about?

DinoDay is our annual fundraising event inspired by a little boy called Cameron Mathieson and his amazing family. With Contact’s support, they launched a long and ultimately successful landmark legal challenge that guaranteed no other child would have their DLA suspended while in hospital.

Cameron, who had Cystic Fibrosis and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, sadly passed away when he was five years old after spending nearly three of those years in hospital.

Every year since then, we celebrate Cameron’s birthday on 19 June with DinoDay – a tribute to Cam’s love of dinosaurs, especially his green triceratops called Troy!

As well as supporting our vital services, the funds you raise this June will also help us campaign to tackle the inequalities that families with disabled children face, like we did for Mathieson’s family and thousands of others since.

Have any questions?

You will likely find all the answers you’re looking for in our DinoDay Challenge FAQs. But if not, just drop us an email at [email protected] contact our team on 020 7608 8786 and we’ll help you out!

We’ll be proudly cheering on all our London Marathon runners this Sunday as they put months of training and hard work into practice!

We just wanted to say the very best of luck to all of our London Marathon 2024 runners and to thank them for raising vital funds for Contact – money that will help us be there for even more UK families with disabled children with our information, advice and support.

One of our runners, Jade a clinical lead nurse from Cambridgeshire says: “Over the last year I’ve been refocusing my values and the areas of my life that are important to me – one of which is reducing health inequalities for vulnerable children and young people.  Children with disabilities are so often overlooked alongside their parents who are faced with incredibly complex systems of support. Contact’s values and support for families with disabled children align closely with my own professional and personal priorities. The difference the charity makes is real – and inspiring to hear about.

“I also re-discovered running over the last year and the sense of community and accomplishment running provides has mentally been a source of comfort and strength. To be able to combine both these areas of my life by running for Contact really is a privilege. I am determined to raise money so that even more families can find the support they need from this fantastic charity!” 

We are truly humbled by their support to us and incredibly proud of each and every one of our London Marathon 2024 runners.

Good luck to you all!

If you’re interested in joining our team next year, contact us on [email protected].

If you’d like a less strenuous way of donating to us why not play Contact’s weekly Lottery, make a regular gift or one off donation?

Rachel Ramsden from Teignmouth in Devon and Sophie Morris from Bushey, Hertfordshire are 2 of 18 runners getting ready to get, set go on 21 April at this year’s London Marathon.

An amazing commitment, we caught up with them to find out what inspired them to take part in the London Marathon for Contact.

39 year old Sophie, a chartered tax consultant, was inspired to run and raise vital funds for Contact after hearing about her friend’s experience caring for a child with complex needs.

Marathon runner Sophie

Sophie says: “Contact seemed like the perfect charity for me to support by running the London Marathon. I took up running two years ago and through it met my good friend Angela whose son Thomas has complex needs. Angela’s family has been supported by Contact for many years and on our runs she told me more about the challenges she faces as the parent of a disabled child – and the support Contact has given her to help overcome them.

“Talking to Angela really inspired me to take this challenge on. I know that thinking of Thomas’ smiley face will easily get me across the finishing line!”

If you’d like to donate and help Sophie smash her fundraising target please visit her JustGiving page.

Third marathon run for Rachel

43 year old medical secretary Rachel who is from Teignmouth told us:

“I’m a working mum with two children. My youngest son, Harvey, is 8 years old and is autistic. He is also non-verbal and has learning and developmental disabilities and needs help with all aspects of self-care. He is my world!

Marathon runner Rachel and her son Harvey

“I wanted to raise money and run this year’s London marathon for a charity that understands the challenges families like mine face when their child has additional support. This will be my third marathon and I am determined to come in under 5 hours so have been training really hard.”

You can donate to help Rachel’s fundraising efforts by visiting her JustGiving page.

Kaya Korablina from Contact’s fundraising team says: “Running 26 miles is a monumental challenge and we’re incredibly proud and humbled by Rachel and Sophie’s dedication, hard work, training and fundraising to support our work. It really does make a difference and helps us to continue to provide vital support to families with disabled children up and down the country. That’s why we will be there on the day cheering and congratulating all of those running the London Marathon for us this year and their efforts to help us help more families with disabled children.”

Best of luck to you both from all of us at Contact!

Say hello to Alex Archer and Steve Minshull – two of 18 London Marathon participants running just over 26 miles to raise vital funds for Contact this year.

Alex from Clapham and Steve from Liverpool decided to run the London Marathon on 21 April for Contact because they’ve both seen the real difference Contact makes first-hand.

Alex says: “I’ve run a half marathon for Contact before, so the London Marathon seemed like the natural next step. It’s a cause very close to my heart as Contact has supported my family since my brother, who has additional needs, was young. We have been lucky to have so much support from Contact over the years and I firmly believe in the invaluable work Contact does to support and empower families like mine. I want to run this year’s marathon to give something back and raise money and awareness for this life-changing charity.”

Steve’s niece Hannah has a chromosome disorder called Jacobsen’s syndrome which means she has physical and learning disabilities as well as complex medical needs. Her condition was so rare that none of her doctors knew anything about it. Charity Contact was the only source of information they had on Hannah’s condition when she was first diagnosed. Steve says:

“I am delighted to be running the London Marathon for Contact, a charity close to my family’s hearts, thanks to the help they have given my sister and brother-in-law with their daughter Hannah. Hannah has just turned 18 and it feels like the perfect time for me to give something back and support this wonderful charity which supports families with disabled children. Many families with disabled children feel frustrated and ignored and can’t always access the services that they are entitled to. Contact provides an invaluable service supporting and signposting families in their quest for a better quality of life for their child. When we have a problem, Contact is the first place we go to for advice. Raising a disabled child whilst is extremely rewarding, can be stressful and hard at times. Knowing that Contact is there at the other end of the phone line or will respond quickly to messages makes things so much easier.”

Good luck Steve and Alex! We think you are both amazing and look forward to seeing you as run just over 26 miles of the Capital’s streets on Sunday, 21 April.

You can support Alex and/or Steve and give their fundraising target a boost by visiting their fundraising pages.

We begin April with news that another parent carer has won a fantastic £1,000 after matching five numbers with the Contact Weekly Lottery.

Michelle from Carterton has supported our campaign work in the past, and decided to take the next step and help Contact financially by playing the Contact lottery. And what a great decision it was! She’s landed £1,000 after just a few months!

“I have only been playing since October, so it’s come as a complete surprise to me!

As a parent of three children with autism spectrum disorder, I have followed Contact’s work for a while. I have signed their petitions and supported their campaigning work.

I decided to sign up for the Contact Lottery after reading about it on Facebook, but it’s the first time I’ve ever won anything this big!”

Beginners luck strikes twice

Sophie from Tonbridge also couldn’t believe her luck when she landed £1,000 this Easter after joining the lottery just a month before!

What an amazing Easter it’s been for both Michelle and Sophie.

Since we launched the Contact Lottery in 2020, we’ve had thousands of winners. Even better, the majority of our £1,000 and £10,000 winners have been parent carers themselves, who tell us they play to help support other families like theirs.

You could be next!

Playing the Contact Lottery is a fun and exciting way to help support our vital work, for as little as £1 a week you too could have the chance to win a prize of up to £10,000.

And the best part is that even if you don’t always win, playing our lottery means you’ll always be supporting other families.

On Sunday 21 April Bernadette in our business development team will be pounding the capital’s streets to raise vital funds for Contact at this year’s London Marathon.

Contact’s business development coordinator, Bernadette, is one of 18 people running for Contact this year. She says:

“When I heard there was an opportunity to run the London Marathon this year I was keen to find out more but wasn’t sure whether I’d actually be able to do it. But, having celebrated a significant milestone birthday this year, it seemed like the perfect time to challenge myself and to not only fulfil a personal accomplishment but to do something to support Contact too!

“The London Marathon aims to create an opportunity for participants “to have fun and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world”. This really resonates with me. I enjoy running – but it’s fair to say I’m not a natural runner. I’ve run a couple of half marathons in the past, but the thought of doubling that distance is daunting. I want to show my children that if you set your mind to something, with determination and focus you can achieve it! I keep motivated with my training knowing that each step is helping to support families with disabled children. And, as an added bonus, fundraising has also provided an opportunity to raise awareness about Contact among my family and friends, some of whom have since benefitted from Contact’s services. So, I will embrace the experience, step out of my comfort zone, wear my Contact vest with pride and enjoy it as much as I can!”

Best of luck to all our runners this year!

Join us as we wish Bernadette and all our London Marathon runners the very best of luck!

Support Bernadette’s fundraising efforts.

Thinking about joining our team next year? Get in touch today by emailing [email protected]

Find out about other ways to fundraise for Contact.

We’re celebrating Easter with fantastic news – another parent carer has won big in the Contact Weekly Lottery!

Sophie from Tonbridge only signed up recently and has already matched five numbers to take home £1,000 in last Friday’s draw.

We caught up with Sophie, and she could not believe her luck:

“I’m over the moon to have won! Wow, I actually can’t believe it. I’ve only been playing for just over a month and had forgotten I had signed up, so it’s a huge surprise.

I found out about the Contact Lottery on Facebook as I’m a parent to an eight- year-old boy who has ADHD and autism, so I thought I’d try my luck. I’ve found the advice and information from Contact really helpful, so I wanted to support them back.

I can’t believe I won! Really unexpected, but very exciting – everyone who can should definitely have a go.”

You could be next! The Contact Weekly Lottery is a great, low-cost and easy way to support Contact’s vital support services for families with disabled children across the UK.

Vital services our lottery players help fund

The support from our lottery players allows us to continue to run our workshops, helpline, information and advice services, one-to-one family drop-ins and much more!

The lottery also helps us fight for more support and better rights for families with disabled children through our campaign and policy work.

How to join our lottery

Join Contact’s Weekly Lottery for as little as £1 a week and be in with a chance of winning up to £10,000 every week!

Sign up today and you’ll be entered into our draw each Friday, if you win, we’ll automatically pay your winnings into your bank account.

There are £5, £25, £1,000 and £10,000 prizes up for grabs every week.

Enjoy your winnings Sophie, and good luck to all our players in the next draw!