Help Silverstone & CarFest transform children’s lives

BBC Children in Need’s mission is to help ensure every child in the UK should have the opportunity to thrive and be the best they can be.

Our ambition is to create positive and lasting change across the UK for the children and young people who need us most. We raise money both throughout the year and in our annual November appeal and we fund local charities and projects who help remove the barriers that are facing children and young people, so that they can thrive. We do this by investing in positive relationships that strengthen children’s wellbeing and help them navigate the challenges in their lives.

We fund 1,800 local charities and projects which directly support children and young people in communities right across the UK. We support children and young people affected by a whole range of disadvantages such as poverty, disability, illness, distress or trauma. Together with the BBC and our partners we tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the UK’s children and young people today, including: mental health and wellbeing, violence impacting young people, child sexual exploitation, holiday hunger; access to employment, and social injustice.

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust uses sailing and outdoor adventures to inspire young people aged 8-24 living through and beyond cancer to believe in a brighter future. For many young people, simply picking up where they left off before their diagnosis just isn’t possible. So, when treatment ends, the Trust’s work begins.

The friendships they make, the acceptance they find, boundaries they push, independence they gain, and the skills they learn help every young person discover what they are capable of again and stop feeling like ‘the only one’. Any young person who has been treated for cancer from across the UK can join the Trust for a transformational four-day sailing experience from Cowes on the Isle of Wight or Largs on Scotland’s West Coast. Many young people need support over time too, so once a young person has been sailing with the charity, they can return for more sailing or outdoor adventures.

Because of the Trust, young people start to re-establish their purpose and place in the world, they feel their mental wellbeing improve, and they are inspired to believe in a brighter future.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity supports families caring for a seriously ill child. Rainbow Trust pairs each family with an expert Family Support Worker who enables them to make the most of their time together, providing them with practical and emotional support whenever they need it, for as long as is needed. We support the whole family and support is hugely varied, depending on the needs of each family. Our nine Care Teams of Family Support Workers provide a lifeline to families caring for a child with a life-threating or terminal illness.

Starlight is the UK’s leading charity for children’s play in hospitals and hospices. Evidence shows that play has the power to reduce fear, pain and trauma during treatment and recovery from illness – boosting mental and physical health and resilience. We work to ensure every child has the opportunity, space and time to experience play. We also undertake research and campaign to ensure children’s right to play is protected and provided for. This means campaigning for more and better, fully funded play services and play practitioners to be recognised and embedded within the NHS.

Every day, seven young people aged 13-24 hear the words “you have cancer”. Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to providing the specialised nursing care and support they need to get through it. Cancer doesn’t just devastate a young person’s health. It threatens to take away everything they care about – their identity, their independence, and their dreams. Teenage Cancer Trust makes sure young people have someone in their corner right from the start. We fund specialist nurses, youth support teams and hospital units within the NHS to provide the very best care and support during treatment and beyond, making sure cancer doesn’t stop young people living their lives.

Please visit www.teenagecancertrust.org to find out more or to donate please visit donate.teenagecancertrust.org

Teenage Cancer Trust is a registered charity: 1062559 (England & Wales), SC039757 (Scotland). www.teenagecancertrust.org

Epilepsy in childhood can be frightening, isolating and is often misunderstood. We stand up for children and young people with epilepsy. We campaign for children’s rights. We provide innovative tools, information, and practical support for living everyday life. We coordinate world renowned research into the causes and treatments of epilepsy and deliver cutting edge health services. You can help create a society in which children and young people with epilepsy thrive.

Together we create possible.