Charity description for Charity challenge Veterans Aid is UK's main front-line operational charity, with a flat organisational structure enabling it to deliver immediate support to ex-servicemen and women in crisis. VA's interventions are needs led and practical, ranging from the immediate provision of basics such as new clothes, food and drink to longer-term accommodation and help to deal with more complex issues until the veterans are able to sustain themselves emotionally, psychologically and financially. VA has a dual approach. Front of house, where clients call or come initially for help is our Drop-in-Centre in Victoria, London. The second location is New Belvedere House, where our most vulnerable clients are accommodated and receive a more in depth, holistic treatment and care from experienced and professional staff. Among the projects run by VA are; Emergency Accommodation, Substance Misuse, Mental Health Issues, Education, Training and Employment, Foreign and Commonwealth support. When clients move-on from VA- they receive our help to source permanent private-rented or supported accommodation. Everyone leaves VA equipped with training, confidence and skills to withstand the stresses and challenges of 21st Century living as well as an 'address book' of friends. The Veterans Aid mantra is 'a hand up not a hand out'. This investment in individuals by providing them with the personal and practical skills to break the cycle of dependency is a model that has achieved unparalleled success and extremely low recidivism. 92% of our clients are still thriving after 6 months from graduating from VA's hostel.

Veterans With Dogs is the UK’s pioneering charity dedicated exclusively to training and providing accredited assistance dogs for current and former members of the British Armed Forces living with service-related mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. We are the first organisation in the UK to develop a specialist programme—Partner Animal Life Skills (PALS)—specifically for veterans with psychological injuries resulting from military service. As a fully accredited member of Assistance Dogs International (ADI), we uphold the highest standards in assistance dog training and welfare.

Independent, confidential and free help for everyone in the veterinary community

VHL UK / Ireland aims to raise funds via fundraising and donations for research, provide information and support for those affected and raise awareness

Improving the lives of children and young people who are blind or partially sighted

Victim Support is an independent charity. We are dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales and we put them at the heart of our organisation. Our purpose is to provide specialist help and services and to support people to cope and recover until they feel they are back on track with their lives. We work with clients in a way that suits them and ensure their voices are heard throughout their support and beyond

Victoria's Promise is a charity founded in the memory of Victoria van der Westhuizen who passed way of cancer at age 29. Victoria's Promise now provide social, emotional, physical and practical care for local young women with all types of cancer, whilst also supporting their partners and children. VP Services include a Personal Care Guardian & mentor, counselling & coaching available for all the family. Specialist Oncology Massages to reduce anxiety, pain & nausea. Advice & tutorials on safe products to use throughout chemotherapy, & the sourcing & funding of high quality wigs. Childcare support & Cleaning services to support the family home. Post Treatment Nutritional Therapy to support recovery & help prevent recurrence. VP Women’s Monthly Network Workshops to reduce isolation, bringing young women together in a safe, fun & educational environment. Victoria's Promise are also a force for cancer prevention, researching and communicating information that aims to drastically reduce the number of cancer occurrences and recurrences.

Village Africa is a UK-registered charity working in Tanzania, East Africa. Our aim is to alleviate poverty. We are working in health and education.

Village Water brings safe water, decent toilets and hygiene education to some of the poorest communities in Zambia and Mozambique. These basics help women and girls be more than just water collectors, children go to school; adults provide for their families. Step by step communities can work their own way out of poverty. That’s why we say change begins with safe water. But in fact, it begins with YOU! Take on a challenge for us and you can be confident you’re making a difference. We keep our overheads low, so you know that every penny you raise is being spent in the right place. We don’t do quick fixes. Or handouts. We focus on building skills in Africa so local people can take charge of their water and sanitation and live dignified and independent lives.

Virunga National Park, Africa’s most biodiverse protected area, exists to protect 1/3 of the world’s wild mountain gorillas, over one thousand species of mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian, and provide a brighter future to more than four million people affected by conflict.

We run opticians clinics for people experiencing homelessness in London, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter, Gloucester, Bristol and Leeds. Using volunteer optometrists, dispensing opticians and assistants, we provide glasses free of charge to 1,800 homeless people each year. People experiencing homelessness are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to obtaining sight tests, glasses and eye care. Around two thirds of our patients cannot get NHS eye tests and glasses. When people are experiencing homelessness they need glasses to look for work, find accommodation or simply to keep themselves safe. By fundraising for us you will help more homeless people receive the glasses they need.

Vista is dedicated to improving lives for people with sight loss by providing information and practical support, challenging barriers to inclusion and working to prevent avoidable sight loss.

VOCAL operates in response to the needs of over 70,000 unpaid young and adult carers in Edinburgh and across Lothian, supporting over 10,000 carers directly each year, offering counselling, access to benefits, legal advice, training and also small grants to help facilitate short breaks and respite opportunities. We also work to identify carers who are unaware of the support available to them, as there are huge numbers of unpaid carers who do not recognise their status, sometimes despite having had caring responsibilities for many years.

VSO works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. Our high-impact approach brings people together to share skills, build capabilities and promote international understanding. Everyday around 1,500 VSO volunteers are working in carefully selected placements, sharing their skills to tackle poverty by empowering those really affected by it.

We partner with communities to overcome adversity, tackling social isolation and loneliness, improving health, developing skills and opportunity and making sure young people can lead change. And because we’re a national charity, we do this at scale, sharing our expertise and building partnerships to make an even bigger impact.

From a person’s first breath through to their last, VSA has stood next to the people of Aberdeen for 150 years offering care, support, and vital services to vulnerable people living in our communities as and when they needed it. As times have changed, so has the way we have delivered our services, but always with one ambition: to give the people of Aberdeen the best of care to enable them to live the best of lives.

Befriending older dog lovers in their own homes as well as in care or medical establishments. Reducing loneliness and improving health and wellness. Operating currently in the 12 Unitary Authorities of the North East only.

Wakefield Hospice, is a registered charity, committed to providing the highest level of symptom management and care for people who have advanced active, progressive and life limiting illness.

The Wales Air Ambulance delivers advanced lifesaving medical care to people across Wales 24/7. We are the only air ambulance charity, based in, and dedicated to, the people of Wales and rely entirely on your charitable donations to raise £11.2 million every year to keep the helicopters in the air and fleet of rapid response vehicles on the road. 

Walking With The Wounded which was set up in 2010, aims to re-educate and retrain our wounded and injured soldiers, and return them to the work place. This enables them to have a secure and stable future. Walking With The Wounded identifies and supports organisations that look beyond immediate medical care and short-term rehabilitation to the challenges of reintegration and retraining for civilian life. Our wounded have a very different future to the one they had planned. Join us in empowering those who have given so much on our behalf.

Since 1995, The Grand Appeal has raised over £31 million to transform the lives of sick babies and children at Bristol Children’s Hospital and the Special Care Baby Unit, providing life-saving equipment, patient activities, new services and family accommodation. Bristol Children’s Hospital is one of the UK’s leading children’s hospitals treating over 100,000 patients every year from across the South West, South Wales and beyond with life-threatening illnesses and serves as the paediatric intensive care centre for the whole South West region. The hospital is an international, national and regional specialist centre of excellence for a range of services including neurosurgery, burns, cardiac, leukaemia and bone marrow transplants. The Grand Appeal provides ground-breaking facilities at the Hospital, including the South of England’s only 3T MRI scanner and intra-operative scanning suite, which has revolutionised the treatment of children with neurological conditions requiring highly complex surgery and a pioneering Cardiac Hybrid Theatre and Integrated Cancer Unit, meaning a sick child can receive all of their treatment in one place. We also fund arts, music and play programmes and facilities at the Hospital, which play a major role in a child’s recovery and rehabilitation. Arts workshops, dedicated music therapy sessions and school activities all provide opportunities for distraction and wellbeing for hospital patients. The Grand Appeal is committed to keeping families together whilst their child is cared for at the Hospital, having funded over £1 million of family facilities and accommodation at Bristol Children’s Hospital and St Michael’s Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit. We receive no statutory funding and rely entirely on the generous support of the local community, businesses, grant-making trusts and other philanthropic organisations and individuals for support.  

We are a registered charity providing a variety of activities and supported learning opportunities for adults and young people with learning disabilities. Our mission is to provide practical, compassionate and transformative support through efficient, effective and empathetic service provision in a safe, uplifting and nurturing learning environment.

War Child is an international child protection agency that works with the most marginalised children – child soldiers, street kids and children in prison War Child believes it is unacceptable that children continue to be victims of war. 66% of people who die in conflict are children. In the last decade alone 1.5 million children have died in wars. Four million have been disabled and a further 10 million traumatised.  We work where other agencies do not, reaching the most at risk children in the most dangerous war zones.    

Washington Mind is a well-established local Charitable Incorporated organisation who have been delivering mental health and wellbeing support since 1981. We are affiliated to national mind and are one of around 130 Local Mind Associations. Our missions is to work in partnership with our community to promote recovery and improve mental health and wellbeing. We deliver a range of quality mental health services for people who are experiencing or are at risk of developing, mental ill health emotional distress.

WasteAid works with communities and policy makers in lower and middle-income countries to implement waste management and recycling programmes. Our vision is a world in which waste causes no harm, and where people in poverty are empowered to recover its value.

WaterAid is an international non-profit with one goal: to change the world through water. Along with decent toilets and good hygiene, a reliable supply of clean water is essential for health, dignity and a life full of opportunity.

WaterAid transforms lives by improving access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities. We work with local partners and influence decision-makers to maximize our impact.

Local charity Watford Mencap to support over 800 people with lifelong learning disabilities. Every year we need to raise over £250,000 in order to fund our services which help local people with learning disabilities reach their full potential and provide valuable respite to their families and carer

WAY is the only national charity in the UK for people aged 50 or under when their partner died. It’s a peer-to-peer support group operating with a network of volunteers who have been bereaved at a young age themselves, so they understand exactly what other members are going through.

Wherever you’re at, however you feel, we get it. Whether you’re in remission, living with cancer or just been diagnosed, we understand because we’ve been there. Angry, upbeat or just in need of some support? Whatever feels right, we get it. We provide support and information for people in Bath who are dealing with cancer. Come to a workshop, find a local resource or simply meet others who know how you feel.