Local charity We Hear You (WHY) is thanking people who have already donated to their 2023 Christmas appeal, which aims to raise £5000 to provide support for people affected by a life threatening diagnosis or bereavement. 

Lucy Kitchener, Chief Executive Officer at WHY, said "I want to say a personal thank you to everyone who has supported our Christmas appeal so far. Your support comes in many forms, and I am incredibly humbled by the commitment of our supporters, volunteers, trustees, and staff who go above and beyond every single day for our charity, which does such amazing work." 

"We Hear You has launched this appeal as we are facing challenging times and, as a result, our services are at risk. I know how valued our services are by the communities that we work in and so we are reaching out to ask for further support. Anything that you can give will help to make it easier for us to keep going."

Gemma Wilkes, Fundraising and Communications Manager at the charity said, "2023 has been a financially challenging year for WHY. At a time when there is even more demand for our services, we've seen a significant drop in the funding available to us. This means for the first time ever we've launched a Christmas appeal and we are delighted that local people have already helped us reach 50% of our target. But we would love to raise more if we can!" 

Pearl used the children's services at We Hear You and said, "I felt the counselling helped me a lot. It felt good to do it. I stopped for a little bit as I felt better, but after my Grandpa died I came back for more sessions with Ruth, the counsellor. I kind of feel like a new person. I used to get quite stressed out and worry a lot, I now find it a lot easier to deal with difficult situations."

Gemma added. "There are many ways to support We Hear You. You can donate directly to our Christmas appeal or you can set up a regular monthly donation with us. If just 200 people donated £10 per month for a year it would make an enormous difference to us. But we know that our local communities are facing financial challenges themselves at the moment and so any donation is welcomed and we are enormously grateful for whatever you can give." 

You can donate to the WHY Christmas Appeal here.

To find out more about setting up a regular donation click here.