Charity Update: Covid-19

These are certainly challenging times, for individuals, families, businesses and of course charities.

Many of the families we are involved with may have undergone surgery, are awaiting surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy and may have compromised immune systems.

As a charity, we will still be functioning on a day to day basis and would encourage any families with a loved one diagnosed with a brain tumour to contact us, and we will help in any way we can.

In line with government advice, we will need to make slight adjustments to the way we usually operate. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to cancel both our monthly support groups, as the venue where we hold these will be closed. We are aware that for many of our WBB community, this is a regular social gathering that they look forward to, and where they can access information and advice, and we realise that for some members to be socially isolated will in itself be detrimental to their health and wellbeing. Therefore, we will continue to be in regular contact with everyone, and are always here to be contacted. For anyone who would like to have a chat or needs advice, we would be happy to do this over the phone or via video call etc. Receipts for travel can be either posted or scanned and emailed to us for reimbursements. For any of our more vulnerable WBB members and those who live alone, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any help with shopping or travel to appointments etc and we will help any way we can.

With regards to events, you may have already seen that many people who were kindly fundraising for us have had to cancel their forthcoming events, and this unfortunately is an unavoidable situation. We ourselves don’t have any planned events until the end of June, so whilst we have not currently chosen to postpone this, we will be regularly assessing the situation and updating accordingly. We hope that our planned events booked for later in the year can proceed and we will continue to plan for these.

Unfortunately, due to the constantly evolving situation with the Coronavirus, it is inevitable that fundraising is going to be affected, but we will continue to do our best in a difficult and unprecedented situation. We hope you will continue to support us through these uncertain times, and look forward to new fundraising campaigns in the near future.

Above all else, our thoughts are with those affected by the virus, particularly those who are sick and we wish them a speedy recovery. We remain inspired by our healthcare workers and others who are caring for people in the community, and we urge all our WBB family and supporters to remain safe and well.

Staying safe

Some groups have a greater chance of severe illness as a result of coronavirus, which affects lungs and airways. These groups include those over the age of 70, people who are pregnant, and those with certain underlying health conditions.

We urge everyone to strictly follow the government’s guidance, including:

• Reduce social interactions as much as possible, following the advice given on the gov.uk website. This includes guidance on living with a vulnerable person, advice for formal carers, and advice for informal carers
• Regular and thorough hand washing with soap and water
• Cough and sneeze into tissues – and then immediately dispose of them
• Do not touch your face with unwashed hands

• Immediately self-isolate, along with all members of your household, if you present any symptoms such as a new continuous cough or a high temperature above 37.8C

• Use the NHS 111 online service if you are unsure of what you should do. People are being advised to not phone 111 or visit their GP

• Look after your wellbeing and mental health. The charity Mind has some useful guidance on its website

• Access up-to-date guidance on the following websites:

www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

Please be assured that throughout this period of uncertainty and challenge, we will do everything we can to offer support. You are not alone.