One Day Changes Lives Campaign
The One Day Changes Lives campaign, convened and coordinated by the Association of Charitable Organisations (ACO), ran on the 22nd Jan 2020. The purpose of the campaign was to raise public awareness of the impact grant-making charities and benevolent funds such as The Smallwood Trust, have on society.
ACO estimates that in the last year, benevolent funds supported over half a million people with £216m in grants – up from £203m in 2016. Benevolent funds provide support to individuals in need by giving financial grants – in the case of the Trust, grants and support are centred around the four drivers of stability; financial stability and relief of hardship, housing stability, pathways to employment and mental health and wellbeing.
For one grant recipient, Smallwood’s support prevented homelessness, “the grant from Smallwood helped me keep my home and put food on the table for my daughter”. In 2019, Smallwood supported over 700 individual women to access a flexible grant, an increase from 500 in 2018.
Leading up to the 22nd January, charities across the UK came together to show how they are changing lives every day by sharing case studies and stories of where their support has helped those in need. The Trust ran a number of social media activities, including Twitter, blogs and videos. We were also mentioned in an article in the Guardian on the 20th January noting our rebrand from the Society for The Assistance of Ladies in Reduced Circumstances to the Smallwood Trust.
To find out more about the campaign visit https://www.aco.uk.net/page/One-Day-Changes-Lives.