SEEKING NEW EXPERT ADVISORS

Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity is looking for people to join our Advisory Board to help us to ensure our grantmaking is as effective as it can possibly be.

We are looking for people who share our ambition to help as many seriously ill children as possible.

You must be willing to contribute your time and expertise, as well as having sound judgement and great personal integrity.

We are interested in hearing from people from anywhere in the UK who have experience in our areas of interest - perhaps as a nurse, social worker or a parent of a child with one of our priority medical conditions. We would also be interested in speaking to young people living with the conditions we prioritise.

If you are interested in learning more about what we are looking for please call the Foundation's Director, James Fitzpatrick, in confidence, on 01494 890 465 or contact us by email at enquiries@marvellouschildrenscharity.org

NEW GRANT PROGRAMME TO ENHANCE SPECIALIST NURSING:

The Burdett Trust for Nursing and the Roald Dahl Foundation have become partners to launch a brand new funding scheme to support specialist children's nursing in the UK.

The new programme – entitled ‘Different Disciplines, Common Experience' - will provide grants of up to £7,500 to enable specialist nurses in the fields of paediatric neurology and haematology to carry out initiatives to improve the quality of care available to childen living with serious medical conditions.

A total grant fund of £150,000 is available over 3 years and the programme will enable up to 30 specialist nurses to deliver nurse-led projects. The projects will improve the quality of patient care, enhance the status of specialist nurses and increase their leadership skills and confidence. The findings of each project will be disseminated widely to improve the profile and quality of specialist paediatric nursing in general.
Sixteen applications have been received in the 2010 bidding round and these are currently being assessed by an expert panel. Details of the successful projects will be published here shortly.

Information about the 2011 bidding round will be available from this website in early next year - so check back regularly.

For more information about the programme click here

TEAM ROALD DAHL 10K RUNNERS DO A MARVELLOUS JOB

Thanks and congratulations to the 30 marvellous runners for Team Roald Dahl who completed the Asics British 10k London Run to raise money for Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity.

So far they have raised an amazing £8,000 to help seriously ill children - and the money is still coming in.

We are immensely grateful to all our marvellous supporters who to fantastic things to support our work.

See our Get Involved page to see how you too can do something Marvellous.

CHANGE TO GRANTMAKING PRIORITIES:

The trustees of the Roald Dahl Foundation have decided to amend the Foundation's funding priorities with effect from 1 April 2010.

The main change is to focus the Foundation's support onto children - from birth to the 18th birthday - living with our priority medical conditions.

This is to ensure that the Foundation's limited resources are being targeted at those most in need.

We will continue to apply some flexibility in the case of young people aged 18-25 who have very specific needs associated with the medical conditions we prioritise - but we will only be able to provide support to this older age group in exceptional circumstances.

We have also made a change in our support for children with Epilepsy. From now on we will be targeting our funding towards the most severe forms of epilepsy in children.

Our revised guidance is available to download by clicking here.

GRANTS NEWS:

Grant of £49,480 over 2 years awarded to Abilitynet

Having funded the pilot year, the Foundation has awarded a grant to Abilitynet to extend their "Play At IT" project in Northern Ireland. This project supports disabled children to be able to use information technology effectively - to develop skills, communicate better and have fun. The Foundation's funding will enable children with aquired brain injury and other neurological conditions to participate in the project.

www.abilitynet.org.uk/play/

Grant of £27,043 to Merton Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Group

The Foundation has awarded a grant to this organisation to support both its core services and to develop and deliver a project specifically for young people living with these conditions in south London.

www.msctg.org.uk/

Grant of £15,000 awarded to Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (SASBAH).

The Foundation has awarded a grant of £15,000 over 2 years to SASBAH for their Special Needs Education Adviser Project. The grant is to enable the organisation to provide more support specifically to children with Hydrocephalus in Sussex.

The project will help this group of children to achieve their full potential in education and their wider development. It also aims to reduce isolation and exclusion and increase integration and personal opportunities. The project will include activities to assist the development and independence of children with hydrocephalus, especially in life skills such as cookery and financial management. You can find out more about their work by visiting their website:
www.sasbah.org.uk

Other grants made by the Roald Dahl Foundation since April 2009 include:

* Brain and Spinal Injury Centre – a grant of £9,682 as a contribution towards BASIC's Vocational Rehabilitation Service for young people in Greater Manchester seeking to return to education, training or employment following a brain injury.

www.basiccharity.org.uk

* Batten Disease Family Association – a grant of £25,000 over 2 years to enable the organisation to employ its first Family Support Worker working across the UK supporting children, young people and their families with this rare neurological condition.

www.bdfa-uk.org.uk

* Supporting Head Injured Pupils in Schools – a grant of £5,000 as a contribution to SHIP's support for children returning to school in the South West of England and South Wales after an acquired brain injury.

www.shipsproject.org.uk

* Tuberous Sclerosis Family Association – a grant of £5,709 as a contribution towards the posts of Communication and Research Administrator and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Advisor.

www.tuberous-sclerosis.org

* UK Thalassaemia Society – a grant of £5,000 towards the costs of their national conference for families and professionals.

www.ukts.org.uk

* Theodora Children's Trust – a grant of £1,790 to enable the Trust's Clown Doctors to visit the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy during 2009.

www.theodora.org