Our Funding Priorities

£250 could pay for the maintenance for one week of our dedicated young people's website, iFace. iFace enables registered users - 11-21-year-olds with disfigurements - to gain mutual support from peers who share the same challenges or to access live online counselling. It is moderated by young people, for young people.

£500 could cover the cost of a counselling contract of ten sessions with one of our Practitioners. This level of help is needed by about 40 adults every year who have very complex issues around how disfigurement affects their sense of identity and relationships.

£1,500 could pay the direct costs of a regional Early Years Day designed to help parents of children up to five years old who have a condition affecting their appearance. By equipping them with constructive strategies for handling other people's reactions and enabling them to find a way through the (often complex) medical issues, we help them regain a sense of control - and pass on confidence to their children.

£1,800 could pay the total costs of our one-day 'Reach Out With Assertiveness' workshop for a small group of adults at a regional venue. This day enables them to share, and learn from and with, one another, and to look at how assertiveness and effective communication skills can help in managing other people's reactions and improve everyday social encounters.

£2,000 could pay the direct costs for an activity day - for instance, our 'Island of Adventure' workshop which helps children making the transition from primary to secondary education. It provides a safe time for children to learn strategies for meeting new people, talking confidently about their appearance and handling tricky situations. Parents and carers can attend a separate information session on the same day.

£2,000 could pay for our Learning and Development Manager to prepare and deliver a day's training to equip 20 health professionals with knowledge and practical skills to identify the needs of patients with disfiguring conditions, and strategies and resources to address them. Research shows that patients who receive psychological and social (psycho-social) support as part of their rehabilitation are more likely to adjust positively to a facial or body disfigurement.

£5,000 could pay for the annual residential weekend of our Young People's Council (YPC). The YPC is an ongoing participation project which was set up in 2005 to enable 14-25-year-olds who have disfigurements to shape the services we offer and speak out on wider issues that involve them - in the media, at school or in their futures. The 20 members meet four times a year, including a residential weekend which also enables them to strengthen their social interaction skills.

£10,000 could pay for the staff time needed over a year to drive forward our Face Equality campaign through eye-catching events for opinion-formers around the country.

If you would like to find out more about our work and future projects requiring restricted funding, please call us on 0845 4500 275 or email us here.