Trusts and philanthropy

Help a life saved become a life fulfilled

Every four hours, a person’s life is for ever changed when they become spinal cord injured (SCI). Life with a spinal cord injury can mean a loss of bladder and bowel control, psychological trauma, permanent paralysis, loss of sexual function and neuropathic pain.

We exist to help people rebuild their lives after injury. Through our holistic range of services, we show SCI people and their loved ones that, although it may mean doing things differently, a full, active and fulfilled life is achievable with proper support.

Our services are a lifeline for everyone in the spinal cord injury community. Help us continue to be there.

Making a grant or major gift

Grants made to us through charitable trusts and significant personal donations greatly impact on the support we deliver to the spinal cord injury community. You could either make an unrestricted gift towards our work, which will be allocated where the need is greatest, or directly support one of our specialist services:

• Support line

Our freephone support line is often the first port of call for SCI people, their loved ones and healthcare professionals in need of support and advice. In 2021/22, more than 3,000 calls were made to the support line – 48% more than the previous year.

Thank you for being so perceptive to read through the lines and realise how much pain I’m in

• Support network

Our support network ties together our services with SCI support coordinators, peer-support volunteers, SCI nurse specialists and occupational therapists, a specialist counselling service and our advocacy and campaigns teams. This comprehensive network is available for everyone in the spinal cord injury community throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland with dedicated regional teams.

Your donation will help us keep giving this invaluable support either across the entire network or to a region of your choice.

Thank you for giving me hope and making me aware of the help out there. I’ve struggled alone for a long time – after today I know that with help my future is worth living and I can still achieve life goals

• Counselling and wellbeing service

Our professional counselling service offers SCI-specific emotional and psychological support to SCI people and their loved ones. The free service took on 69 SCI people in 2021/22 and delivered more than 300 counselling sessions, including to friends and family of SCI people.

Speaking with someone who has the experience of spinal cord injury really helped as they can identify the issues that exist and help with advice on moving forward

• SCI clinical specialist team

We have a team of five regional SCI nurse specialists and an occupational therapist to offer clinical advice and advocacy to SCI people. The experienced team also provides specialist training to healthcare professionals to improve the care they can offer SCI people.

Everyone who works for/with SIA is so helpful and will go above and beyond to make you as comfortable and happy as possible. I was really worried things wouldn’t change for me, but after speaking with various people within this association, they have put measures in place that have made my standard of life so much better

Dedicated support for you

We’re incredibly grateful for all donations we receive and would be delighted to hear from you if you are considering making a grant through a charitable trust or a large personal donation. We will give you a dedicated point of contact and share opportunities with you for attending our events or visiting your local spinal cord injury centre to see the impact of your donation first-hand. We would be delighted to keep you updated with tailored information about the difference your support has made.

Thank you for allowing us to keep making a difference to SCI people’s lives

Thank you for considering supporting spinal cord injured people. Together, we can achieve our vision of a world where everyone affected by spinal cord injury can lead fulfilled and independent lives.

If you’d like to donate or discuss our work further, please contact Brogan Woodward about trust donations or Jo Neale about individual gifts by emailing [email protected] or calling 01908 604191.

Your gift could help spinal cord injured people like Faduma

 

“When I was first in hospital, doctors told me I was the only SCI person there. I felt completely lost. I didn’t know who or where to go to. I wondered if there was anybody else like me somewhere. Then a gentleman came into my bay in his wheelchair and said, ‘Hi, I’m from SIA.’ I thought, thank God, I have a community now.”