Latest news with #JuliasHouse
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Hants and Dorset charities use social media to boost fundraising
Charities say they are increasingly using social media video campaigns to plug the gap caused by a drop in donations from the say using pictures and videos of clients has the most impact on their Rose Road Association in Southampton and Julia's House which has children's hospices in Dorset and Wiltshire both use videos across their social Charities Aid Foundation's UK Giving 2025 Report reveals that charities are now relying on donations from only 50% of people, down from 58% in 2019 — equivalent to approximately four million fewer donors. Mike Bartlett, deputy CEO at Julia's House says it is constantly working on its social media presence: "A lot of the best work that we produce on social media is really storytelling. "It's helping to demonstrate the impact of our work. So children's stories, children playing at the hospice, children having fun with our nurses and carers. That's what's most impactful, either to reach new people or to tell people about the work we're doing."Social media is quite a cost effective way to reach new audiences, and also to communicate with existing supporters".He says it's important that its social media videos focus on the children at the hospice and the care they are receiving."In a way, people aren't supporting Julia's House as an organisation, they're supporting the children and the families we care for", he said. The Rose Road Association is a Southampton based charity, specifically for young people with manager Beth Rogers says social media posts are very important: "It's essential, because every piece of fundraising we do, we're competing against other causes. "So the more touch-points we have with someone, the more likely they are to say 'that cause, that's the one for me'. "So yes, we have to keep doing it, we have to be fast and we have to do it regularly, otherwise we will just get left behind in the current market."We have to work a lot harder to attract each new person to us as a cause. It's not all doom and gloom in the sector, but it is harder than it's ever been, the cost of living, it's really difficult." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Fragile' girl's life transformed after rare condition caused her to stop eating
A 'fragile' girl's life has been transformed thanks to "caring and loving" staff at a 12, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, has a rare life-limiting muscle wasting condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which prevents her from House children's hospice came to the family's aid in 2023 after Ellie took to her bed, dropped out of school and expressed suicidal mother Beth said: "They just came in and gave us a chance to heal a bit. Cope a bit. Relax a bit. We were given this 360 care and love from people that were so gentle with us when we were so damaged." The family are sharing their story during Children's Hospice Week, which runs until Sunday, to raise awareness and funds for local parents first noticed their daughter might be unwell when she stopped crawling at nine months testing showed that Ellie had SMA Type 2. The condition is life-limiting, affecting her muscles, swallowing and period after the diagnosis was "absolutely awful", Beth said."I was searching for a cure anywhere I could. We were just desperate – we were like frightened children," she can still use her lower arms and hands to write, but is unable to stand independently or walk as her upper thigh muscles have weakened. "While she does physically struggle, it's Ellie's confidence and sense of identity that's damaged the most," said Beth. "She still very much cries because she can't go on a climbing frame and do things like other children. Her mental health is massively affected." 'Very fragile' In 2023, Ellie took to her bed on and off for about six months. She stopped eating, dropped out of school and told her parents she did not want to live. "It was an incredibly scary time for us and for her."But that was luckily the year that we discovered Julia's House, and things changed massively."Being around other children who are in wheelchairs or know what it's like to have a complex condition has also been phenomenal for Ellie. She has developed some really special friendships because of Julia's House."She added that all of Julia's House nurses, play worker and counsellor helped Ellie through her "very fragile mental health condition". 'Enormous strain on parents' Mike Bartlett, the charity's chief executive, said that Ellie's case proved how important it was to support parents, as well as children."Looking after a very poorly child puts an enormous strain on parenting. Research shows that many parents looking after seriously ill children suffer ill health themselves," he it is becoming more difficult for the charity to provide its services, due to the economic climate, he added."The problem is the costs have gone up, the cost of providing care, staffing, energy bills, inflation all have a pressure on our bottom line and it's getting harder and harder to fundraise," he said.
