An open letter from Zillah, our CEO, on COVID-19

Dear Rainbow Trust Supporter,

What can I say that you won’t already have heard? We are (as are many others) facing unique times and the massive concern that Rainbow Trust will not be able to continue to support the 2,500 vulnerable families with a terminally ill child that we currently do.

We urgently need your help.

The families we support are already facing the unimaginable thought that their child may die before them. Now, they are also experiencing the genuine fear of that being exacerbated by a situation out of their control which may, at the very least, make them temporarily unable to continue to care for their child and be supported in doing so.

Families often tell us that their Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker is one of the only trusted ‘constants’ in their lives, helping them as they face uncharted territory, uncertainty and often the unknown. That is not changing in the short term. We will continue to be there to support them in their lives, in whatever way we can be of most help, whether that is in person (wherever safely possible), by telephone or in other ways, for as long as is possible.

However, we now face a dramatic drop in our income. All large fundraising events for the foreseeable future are cancelled or postponed (including our two flagship events) and we are in a world where we do not expect to be able to recover these sums easily. 98% of our income comes from the generosity of donors and we need these regular funds in order to keep Rainbow Trust going.

For the vulnerable families to continue to benefit from our support we urgently need all the help we can get. Whilst we completely appreciate that this is a global issue and is affecting everyone personally too, our priority has to be to ensure that these families are supported by those of us that are able to give something.

As Chief Executive of Rainbow Trust I will strive to ensure that Rainbow Trust continues to be there to support these families in these confusing and frightening times.

I implore you to help me do that and give whatever you can.

Donation payment types
Donation payment values.

£5 could provide bereavement support to help a family cope with the death of a child.

Thank you.

Zillah Bingley, CEO