Day One Trauma Support: Christmas Appeal 2025

Aim

To help people across the UK build a brighter future after life-changing injuries, improving access to vital financial and wellbeing support

By giving to this appeal you can provide financial advice and support to people who've suffered a life-changing injury - helping to improve their well-being and mental health.

By giving a gift of hope and recovery today you'll be helping people like Chloe and her family:

"Being hit by a taxi after a long hospital shift changed everything in an instant.

I woke up to broken bones, months of uncertainty, and afraid I’d never get my old life back.

My mum feared I might never live independently again.

But in the middle of all that worry Day One was there. To support, guide and understand what we were going through when no one else really could.

Today, I’m back at work as a physiotherapist. I support amputees and see first-hand just how life-changing Day One’s help can be for people facing the hardest moments of their lives.

Please donate this Christmas to give someone else the gift of hope and recovery."

Chloe back doing what she does best - working as a physiotherapist with amputees.

Why we need your support

Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK suffers a life-changing injury. A road crash, fall at work or violent assault doesn’t just cause physical trauma it can dismantle a family’s financial security overnight.

Suddenly there’s lost income, emergency travel costs, rent worries, benefit forms, and decisions about work and housing all while sitting beside a hospital bed, scared and exhausted. The financial shock hits just as hard as the emotional one.

Day One Trauma Support is a national charity that provides trauma-informed financial and emotional support to people affected by catastrophic injury, helping them stabilise their lives from the point of crisis. 

Our dedicated caseworkers are there to help anyone in the UK, whenever they need us. We provide practical, financial and emotional support from day one of someone’s injury, for as long as they need us. 

By donating this Christmas, you’re giving more than money. You’re giving someone the chance to rebuild their life.

How we help

We begin our relationships with a calm, person-centred assessment giving people a safe space to speak openly and feel heard without judgment.

Our caseworkers and advice line team spend the majority of their time supporting people with the urgent financial challenges that follow major trauma.  This includes:

• Signposting and assisting with welfare benefit claims, helping people understand and access their entitlements
• Managing sudden income loss and urgent bills
• Signposting to support with costs such as travel, accommodation, clothing, or mobile phones
• Navigating employment rights, housing issues, and safe discharge from hospital
• Connecting people with trusted services for debt advice, legal support and long-term financial planning

While most of our focus is on financial wellbeing, we also provide crucial emotional support helping individuals and families feel calmer, more in control, and less alone during deeply distressing times. Where needed, we link people into peer support networks and counselling services to aid their emotional recovery.

By addressing both financial pressures and emotional strain, we help people avoid long-term hardship and begin rebuilding with dignity, stability and hope.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Right now, demand for our services is increasing rapidly:

• 122% rise in financial well-being interventions in the last year
• 40% increase in emergency grant requests helping families with the immediate and unexpected costs of life-changing injuries
• 50% of people we support live in the 30% most disadvantaged communities
• Increasing numbers are experiencing trauma and homelessness together

No one should feel alone, overwhelmed or financially insecure while recovering from major trauma and with your support, they won’t.

As Chloe puts it: "Many people leave hospital with life-changing injuries and no support system. That’s where Day One really makes a difference, giving people guidance, connection, and someone who understands what that early stage of recovery feels like."

With your support, we can reach more people in crisis and stop trauma from becoming a spiral into debt, homelessness, or emotional breakdown.

How we’ll spend the money raised

Your support will help us:

• Fund expert caseworkers to deliver trauma-informed support at the hospital bedside and via our national advice line
• Expand our offer, ensuring more people across the UK can access urgent guidance when they need it most
• Support individuals and families in navigating benefits, budgeting, sudden income loss, housing and debt
• Connect people to trusted partners for specialist legal, welfare, and mental health support
• Reach underserved communities, providing life-changing support where the need is greatest
• Ensure no one falls through the cracks when trauma and financial hardship collide

By reducing stress and offering clear, compassionate guidance, we help individuals feel more in control. Like this parent's feedback we received...

"From [the] first meeting to my son’s homecoming, I can't tell you how much you helped. The shock of the accident and surgery, the stay for 10 days in hospital and the cost would have been unbearable without your caring service. From the bottom of my heart, I thankyou."

By donating to this project, you’re not just supporting recovery. You’re changing lives.

How you can help

There are two easy ways you can support our work and make a real difference:

1. Make a donation

Every pledge helps someone move from trauma to recovery. With match funding from Aviva, until 24th December, your donation goes twice as far.

2. Spread the word

Share our campaign with your friends, family, colleagues, and online networks. Awareness is powerful.

Together, we can ensure that no one has to face trauma alone. Help us be there from Day One.

Thank you for supporting Chloe.

Chloe with her mum Michelle.

This project successfully funded on 6th January 2026