Double your Impact in the Big Give Christmas Challenge

The Big Give Christmas Challenge has been the highlight of our year since the first time we entered. It is a time when families, their friends and connections come together as a team to help Reverse Rett reach our target in this wonderful challenge which doubles any donation made.

This is our 15th year of participating. The first time was a few short months after we launched in 2010 where the target was a modest £10,000 (it felt huge at the time). Every year that target has grown, each year the target has been reached and we have now raised almost £1.5M through this one challenge alone.

It used to be a challenge in every sense of the word. Matched funding was up for grabs but only a certain amount each day, when that day’s cash was gone the challenge closed till Midday following day when the website link opened again. It was nerve wracking with everybody trying to donate to all the competing charities within a tiny window. It caused sleepless nights and panic, for not only us but our loyal supporters too.

It was great fun though, desperately trying to get your donation doubled then seeing the total climbing until the target was reached. Those of us around 14 years ago are still ready to go at Midday on the day the challenge starts.

It’s still exciting but it doesn’t induce the panic of those early years. This year we have £45,000 of matched funding. This means if we can raise £45,000 from our community (through the Big Give link) it will be doubled by the original pledge from John and Maureen Sharpe, stalwarts of this challenge and the Big Give Trust.

We have 7 days to raise the money. It starts at Midday on Tuesday, December 3rd and ends at Midday on Tuesday, December 10th. The link to donate is open for the full 7 days and the matched funding will be there just waiting to be gobbled up until we reach the target.

2024 has been a year of ups and a few downs. We’ve had very positive initial data from the patients taking part in both the Taysha and Neurogene gene therapy clinical trials. We’ve also had the announcement of 2 UK clinical trial sites with more to be announced in the coming months. We’ve also had the devastating news that a patient on the Neurogene trial had a reaction to the vector which transports the healthy copy of the MECP2 gene which sadly ended her life. The Rett community worldwide were shocked to the core by this news but the trial continues with certain amendments and for now at least, gene therapy is still the most promising outlook for our children.

Our campaign this year is called ‘Voicing Change’. The biggest battle for our community lies ahead; getting these life-changing treatments recommended for NHS funding. Your donation will help us build the strong evidence package we need to drive these new treatments into the homes and lives of everyone living with Rett syndrome in the UK.

Please share the challenge on your social media pages and to your family, friends and connections who are not on there and ask them if they’d like to magically turn £5 into £10!

Deep appreciation must go to John and Maureen Sharpe and the Big Give Trust who have provided the chance for us to raise so much money at Christmas.

Thank you to all of YOU who continue to make this challenge such a success, year after year, your desire to see an end to Rett syndrome for the person you love with Rett is truly inspiring.

You can donate to the Big Give Christmas Challenge HERE