UK charities scoop share of £120,000 festive financial boost

The charities were nominated to win a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

The Royal Mencap Society based in London, which supports children and adults with a learning disability across the UK, and Cavendish Cancer Care in Sheffield, which provides free-of-charge care and support to families affected by cancer, are among the charities set to benefit from the money following overwhelming public support.

85,000 people around the UK nominated a cause close to their heart, with 3,927 charitable causes up and down the country receiving votes. The 120 winning charities were picked at random from those nominated.

The full list of the 120 charity winners is available to view online at www.movementforgood.com/12days

Thanking supporters, Mark Hews, Group CEO at Ecclesiastical, said: “Owned by a charity, here at Ecclesiastical our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business. We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better. We hope these donations can bring a positive end to a difficult year and a promising start to 2021.”

A representative from Cavendish Cancer Care said: “We help people move past the shock of diagnosis, take back control over what can be an incredibly overwhelming situation and live well, during and long after cancer treatment. This funding will help us to expand our new services and provide more families with the care they need during an incredibly difficult time. Specifically it will fund around 40 hours of individually-tailored therapy for cancer patients, their carers and their children, who may be struggling more than ever to understand and come to terms with what is happening.”

A representative from The Royal Mencap Society said: “The wonderful donation will go a long way in funding our services such as our supported living homes, employment services, leisure activities and more. The pandemic has been hard on our charity and has had such an impact, the £1,000 will help us to better support people with a learning disability and continue to provide the vital services across the UK – thank you.”

Last year, Ecclesiastical launched its latest Impact Report to celebrate some of the many good causes it has helped.