Daisy Chains IW has announced it can only help fund family travel to the mainland in emergencies now, due to a lack of funds as a result of the COVID pandemic.
Daisy Chains is a small charity that helps Island children and their families who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness or any long-term health condition or disability. The charity also assists families of premature babies when their newborn has been transferred to a mainland unit.
Due to a shortage of funds, Daisy Chains has taken a decision with immediate effect to stop all travel funding except in the most urgent of cases. This is because of increased demand for travel funding since COVID-19, an inability to hold fund-raising events for 2 years leading to a reduction in income and donations not covering the demand from families being supported.
Charities have been under considerable pressure since COVID-19. The demand for Daisy Chains’ services has increased, and the charity has had to book ferries every single day at great cost.
Daisy Chains has this year received donations from Christmas lights displays and raffles and has a small amount of funds in reserve for the most urgent of cases. However, until the charity is able to raise additional funding, it will have to pause the help it provides.
Mandy Fuller of Daisy Chains has said:
“We haven’t said ‘no’ to anyone who has asked for funding to travel to the mainland yet, but reserves are lower than we would like.
“We do have funds for emergencies, for example premature babies or urgent cancer treatment.
Article continues below this advertisement “We support all families. We have 40 children on our books that we fund on a regular basis. But now we are pausing general travel help for non-urgent cases.”
When asked what Islanders can do to help the work of Daisy Chains, Mandy said:
“We would like people to support our events such as the Easter Egg Hunt and the Festival of Heroes in the summer. It is also possible to donate directly via PayPal or JustGiving.
Further information on Daisy Chains may be found on their Facebook page.
St Mary’s Hospital should pay for this