Restore is excited to announce that this year, we are applying to take part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2020, the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign.
We’re hoping to raise vital funds for our brand new Pebble Project.

What is The Big Give?
The Christmas Challenge is a match funding campaign where donations to participating charities are doubled. The match funds come from two sources – charities secure some of these over the summer. These funds are then boosted by funds from a Big Give Champion who contributes to the match fund. This collective pot is used to double donations from online supporters when the campaign is live.

Over seven days from 12pm 1st December 2020 – 12pm 8th December 2020 supporters of charities like Restore have the chance to double their donation.

Okay, so what am I donating money for? What is the Pebble Project?
We need to secure £4,200 in donations during the campaign in order to help fund an Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Marketer to fully reach our potential in offering MHFA Training to members of our community.

Marketers are experts at identifying leads, connecting with people, and sharing stories, which motivate people to get involved with great causes like ours. Their focus will allow our Instructors to dedicate their time and expertise to delivering training, helping us to increase our capacity to train more people across Oxfordshire, and more importantly to help us to reach more people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, who have historically been more affected by mental ill-health.

Why is this important to Restore?

“Mental health is a huge taboo in BAME communities. People often like to blame mental health on witchcraft or other the like. But we love the idea of being educated. Therefore, courses and the training such as MHFA would be an attractive way of breaking those barriers and creating a ripple effect of understanding, changing mindset, and therefore healing.” (Suffia, Asian Women’s Network)

The prevalence of mental ill-health amongst individuals from BAME communities is, frankly, troublesome. Communities may have a history of fear, shame, and discrimination regarding mental ill-health, which leads to a failure to engage with mental health support services.

We have a responsibility to help to alleviate the impact of mental ill-health. Mental Health First Aid training increases knowledge and confidence in identifying early signs of mental ill-health, teaches support skills, and provides signposting. Perhaps most importantly, it helps to de-stigmatise mental illness, and remove barriers to securing help.

Put frankly, this new post will help us to reach BAME communities across Oxfordshire. We want to be part of positive activities to engage with under-served and marginalised communities in our work, so that we can all have better mental health.

That sounds great, how do I donate?
  • Add a calendar reminder to your diary for 12pm on 1st December including this link https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001fHtXtAAK   
  • Have your 3D secure card details ready when you make your donation
  • Feel exceptionally proud that your donation brings us closer to our target, and to helping more members of the community living with mental ill-health

Please note the donate button will appear on the campaign page when the Christmas Challenge launches at 12pm on 1st December.

If you have any questions, please do be in touch with our Fundraising Team.