Happy New Year!

3 mins read

Wednesday 1 January 2025

Tags: campaigns, happy new year, Lifeline Appeal, Contact's support services for families

We wanted to say Happy New Year to all our families and to thank you for being an essential part of what we achieved throughout 2024.

We had the privilege of supporting over 400,000 families across the UK last year, offering advice and information that helped transform lives.

Our Family Finances team helped eligible families increase their household incomes by an average of just under £6,000 a year and the parent advisors on our helpline responded to nearly 10,000 enquiries from parent carers.

More than 2,700 children and parent carers attended one of our family events to connect, learn and share their experiences.  At the same time, our By Your Side team reached over 1,700 families with seriously sick and disabled children in hospitals across the UK, providing crucial advice to navigate our complex systems of health, social care and education support. Through this support, families were empowered to get the benefits they are entitled to at a time when they needed it most. 

Making a difference together

In a year of huge political change, we’re proud to say that with your help we successfully influenced some key government decisions in 2024 like increasing the earnings limit on Carers Allowance so carers can earn more without losing this essential benefit. We also supported a parent carer’s fight to change England’s free school meals guidance ensuring that schools must now provide an alternative to disabled children who can’t access their free school meal in the usual way.  

More recently, over 4000 shared your experiences with us by taking part in our Counting the Costs research, shedding a light on the devastating impact of delayed assessments for children with additional needs, reduced access to therapies, dwindling health and social care services and lack of suitable school places.

We are hugely grateful to the thousands of you who made your voices heard and worked with us to make positive change for families across the UK – whether through writing to your MP, participating in our surveys or speaking out in the media.

Help us be there for families when they need us in 2025

The need for Contact’s support has never been greater. Families with seriously ill and disabled children face increasingly difficult challenges, and we’re committed to being there for them every step of the way.

But as a charity, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to continue offering life-changing help.

This winter, if you’re able, please consider donating to our Lifeline Appeal. Your gift will help us provide essential advice and emotional support to families, preventing financial crises and easing the turmoil they face daily.

Alternatively, why not kick off your new year with a resolution to make a difference in 2025? You could join our DinoDay Facebook Challenge in June or sign up to Contact’s Weekly Lottery at any time of the year for the chance to win up to £10,000 every Friday!

Together, we can make 2025 a year of transformation for families with disabled children who need us most. Thank you for being an essential part of this journey.

Wishing you all a happy New Year!