One donation, twice the impact
Donations to The Children’s Trust through The Big Give Christmas Challenge between 12pm on Tuesday 1 December and 12pm on Tuesday 8 December 2026, and every pound you give will be doubled, up to £90,000.
That means together, we can raise £180,000 to fund life-changing neurotechnology and assistive technology for children with brain injury.
When vital support is out of reach
Every year in the UK, children are left without access to specialist technology or the support they need following a brain injury. Some children lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, communicate or play, turning their worlds upside down in an instant. Urgent access to specialist rehabilitation and the right technology is crucial to giving them the best possible chance for the future.
At The Children’s Trust, neurotechnology and assistive technology are central to our work – from robotics and supported movement that help children sit up, walk and play, to assistive technology that can help them communicate, make choices and take part more independently.
We urgently need your help to bring more of this life-changing technology to more children. At Christmas, children often wish for toys and games. But after a brain injury, their biggest wish is often for something most of us take for granted – having the strength to ride their bike again or the coordination to play a video game. Or simply being able to join in with their friends again.
Help us to support more children like Liliana
For three-year-old Liliana, being able to communicate means having a say in the little things that make up her day – and the big things that matter.
This time last year, her parents Stacey and Matt weren’t sure whether that would ever be possible for her. Just weeks before Christmas, Liliana had sustained a serious brain injury following complications during routine tonsil surgery.
We were the saddest we had ever been. All I could think was, ‘She’s got to get through this. She’s our everything,
remembers Stacey.
After several months in hospital, Liliana came to The Children’s Trust in February for specialist rehabilitation. She was unable to sit unsupported and had severe difficulty speaking, making it hard for her to express what she needed.
When Liliana arrived at The Children’s Trust, her family worked with her therapists to set her rehabilitation goals. One of their biggest wishes was for her to be able to communicate more independently. Our specialist teams helped explore different ways to make that possible, including supporting Liliana to use an iPad with specialist communication software alongside her emerging speech and gestures.
It meant Liliana had another way to make herself understood – to choose activities, say yes or no, and communicate what she wanted and needed.
Stacey remembers one occasion when it took nearly an hour to work out what Liliana wanted to wear. She realised that with a communication aid, Liliana could have told them what she wanted almost immediately. For Stacey, it was a moment that changed how she saw Liliana’s future – and gave her a new sense of what could be possible.
When I see her with a talking aid, I think, do you know what? If she’s not able to speak, I’m not scared anymore. It gives me hope that she’ll one day go to university and be able to communicate with her colleagues and with her lecturers and friends,
said Stacey
Now, Stacey, Matt, Liliana and the whole family are looking forward to a very different Christmas. They hope Liliana will soon have her own communication aid, giving her another way to join in with the excitement – from choosing what she wants to eat for Christmas dinner to sharing her wishlist with Santa.
I’m forever grateful to The Children’s Trust. They’ve given me hope that Liliana can live a really good life. She wouldn’t have come this far without them. says Stacey.
