We are a small charity and so if we as a community can work together, we can build a stronger organisation which can increase our offering. There are many ways in which you and your children can support us. Below we have set out some ideas of what you or your children can do for our ADHD community.
Raise awareness of ADHD
We have been very active in promoting ADHD awareness in our local Boroughs and nationally for many years but more needs to be done. We need to get the word out amongst more teachers, schools, medical professionals and other parents of children with ADHD. Make them aware of ADHD Richmond and Kingston and our services.
An example of someone raising awareness on issues affecting those with ADHD is George Sharpe, who is walking 104 miles to deliver a petition to the Government to fund more services that will help to identify ADHD earlier, bring diagnosis waiting times down and give more support to people with ADHD. His petition can be signed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/552719. This issue is a challenge across the country with varying levels of service but ADHD as a condition is still not getting the recognition it should. We have over the years been active, and still are, working closely with the statutory service providers in our Boroughs to make them aware of the issues families with ADHD are having. Many services have been improved with a better understanding but funding constraints continues to be a challenge.
Raise money for us
As you know most of our services are free and if we do charge, it is a modest amount. This is only possible if we get funding support. This year we have been supported for some of our budget by three local community endowments (RPLC, Barnes Fund and Hampton Fund) for which we were extremely grateful. However, we need to raise more funds to continue to support you and also allow us to do more as a community. Here are ways to help raise money for us:
- Nominate ADHD Richmond and Kingston as one of your child’s school selected charities for fundraising within the school.
- Do a challenge such as bike ride, walk or swim to raise money for us, whilst also raising awareness of ADHD in your home and work communities.
- Consider nominating us to your employer if they have charitable sponsorship.
- Introduce us to corporations who are headquartered in Richmond and Kingston Boroughs to see if they would sponsor us or form a partnership to support us. If you or your partner have any such contacts, please do reach out to them and put them in touch with Annette at [email protected].
Raise money when you do your household shopping
Many retailers participate in giving to charities and so when you shop with them, they will donate a percentage of customer spend to charity without it costing you anything. They all work a bit differently but here are the ones where we are a selected charity or have registered with.
- The CoOp – We are a nominated cause of the CoOp for another year. In the last twelve months we raised £4,773 from them, which was a welcome addition to our funding. Lets see if we can raise more this coming year. Please register with the CoOp as a member (it only costs £1) and select us as your cause you are supporting. In addition, when you shop at the CoOp, they offer members deals and also give you a discount percentage for your own benefit. If you are already registered with the CoOp, please make sure that you have selected us as a cause for the further year as your previous selection will not carry over.
- Waitrose in Richmond – We are one of the nominated charities that they will be supporting in the month of November. If you live in that area, please shop there and support us.
- Easyfundraising – This is a retail platform for on-line shopping and so register with them and select us as your cause. Then everytime you shop on-line through their platform or accept the offered donation on the participating retailer’s website, these retailers will contribute a percentage of your spend. Please tell your wider family and friends across the country about this too. Our highest fundraiser on easyfundraising is the mum of one of our volunteers and grandmother of her son with ADHD and is doing a great job at raising money for us this way even though she does not live close by.
- SmileAmazon – SmileAmazon works similar to easyfundraising in that they will contribute a percentage of your spend to us if we are your selected cause.
Make a cash donation
Please consider making a one-off cash donation or signing a standing order with your bank to donate monthly. Cash donations of any size would be most welcome and every contribution is gratefully received. If you are a UK taxpayer, please sign the gift aid form and return it to us at [email protected].
We know many families have had a good clear out of the house during lockdown. Unfortunately we are not able to take donations of furniture, toys and clothes, etc. However, if you have unwanted items we can refer you to other charities:
- EnhanceAble, a Kingston-based charity which supports people with disabilities, is running the ‘Things I Need’ project through the winter months. They will be collecting donations from local businesses and individuals such as second-hand clothes, toys and household items and redistributing them to local people in need. The only criteria for referrals is that they live in the Kingston borough. To donate or find out about referrals, please contact [email protected]
- Richmond Furniture Scheme is a furniture recycling charity that helps people requiring social and economic assistance in the borough of Richmond upon Thames. They will collect the furniture. To donate or find out more, please contact [email protected]
Volunteer with us
We are a small and friendly team and therefore always welcome volunteers. We will try and match jobs that need doing with your skillset and your available time. Contact us at [email protected]
Register with us
If you are not already registered with us to receive our newsletter, please sign up. Our newsletter is fortnightly and we won’t share your information with anyone else. Having you registered with us will help us when we apply for funding to improve and increase the services we can offer you.