By giving to this appeal you can provide financial advice and support to people who've suffered a catastrophic injury - helping to improve their well-being and mental health.

And remember, thanks to Aviva's generous funding, every £1 you give will be matched - up to £250 per individual.

By giving a gift of hope and recovery today you'll be helping people like Georgia and her family:

"I don’t remember being cut out of the car. 

When I was in the coma my family were told I had a life-changing brain injury. They had to prepare for the worst. I might not wake up after my operation, and if I did, I might not walk or talk again.

When I woke up, I was confused. I thought I was 16 and still at school. My right side would not work and I couldn’t communicate with my worried parents. 

To everyone’s surprise I could sing. Music became my solace. I would sing along to a soundtrack my sister put together for me. She even wrote me a song.

The emotional support from Day One for my mum was great. This whole experience was all new to us, so for my mum to have someone to offload to was a big help. 

People don’t realise the family need support as much as the patient. For someone to come and help us when we needed it meant the world."

Georgia recovering after an operation.

Why We Need Your Support

Major trauma changes lives in an instant.  

But beyond the immediate impact of the car crash, the fall, the workplace accident, the violent crime… 

...beyond the hospital stay, the months of agony, the chronic exhaustion, the waiting and waiting and waiting for bones to heal, beyond the fear, beyond loneliness, the consequences of major trauma go on… 

...strained relationships, employment loss, housing precarity, drained finances, childcare pressures, legal battles, mental health decline, mental health crisis. 

Every area of a life can be damaged. It is an isolating and terrifying experience.  

At Day One we believe no one should go through this alone.   

By giving to this appeal you can provide financial advice and support to people who’ve suffered a catastrophic injury – helping to improve their well-being and mental health. 

Our caseworkers are at Major Trauma Centres across seven sites in the north of England and we have a national advice and support line available to anyone who needs us. 

Your donation will mean people get professional, compassionate, helpful support and advice from Day One after their accident. Not only that, but we’ll be there to help for as long as it takes. 

Why legal, financial and welfare advice really matters

Worries about financial security, employment and welfare can seriously affect both physical and mental recovery. 

Research shows that access to early legal, welfare and employment advice can improve long-term outcomes and aid recovery. 

The University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust found that: 

“Patients admitted acutely to hospital have often made little, if any, arrangements regarding their personal affairs. Their families may find difficulties in dealing with financial and legal matters while the patient is seriously ill, particularly those in ITU when the patient often lacks capacity.”

“The most commonly sought advice in our patient group was regarding entitlement to welfare benefits, applications for deputyship in the case of loss of competence to manage affairs, personal insurance claims, financial issues and care funding… 

“Legal aid has been significantly cut over recent years. Having to seek and pay for such advice would we feel provide an additional burden for patients and their families at a time of acute distress.”

Day One is there right from the start to make sure no one is alone and everyone gets the support they need.

Additionally, we know from our research that these issues disproportionately affect the poorest in our communities. 

Our research shows that over 60% of our support in this area goes to people living in the bottom third of households as defined by the UK Household Deprivation Index. In fact, 4% of our beneficiaries have no-fixed abode (homeless), which is a massive over-indexing against the general population.

Although we are a charity working in the context of severe physical injury, our work is intimately connected with mental health experiences and mental health recovery.  

A lack of support in the these crucial areas can have a devastating knock-on effect to mental health:

• Many people end up with life-changing injuries due to a mental health crisis resulting in serious self-injury or suicide attempts.
• No matter the mechanism of injury, there is a 40 per cent increased chance of mental health difficulties following major trauma, with 70 in every 100,000 patients taking their own life.  
• “An estimated 30–40% of individuals who survive a MT report serious, long-term psychological difficulties. (Teager et al, 2022: 1) 
• Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and chronic pain are commonly reported consequences of significant injuries” (Teager et al, 2022: 1) 
• Major trauma injuries may lead to the “re-emergence or exacerbation of pre-existing mental health problems and can lead to reduced quality of life and occupational outcomes” (Teager et al, 2022: 2) 

How We'll Use Your Donation

You can double your impact this Christmas thanks to the matched funding from Aviva.

Every £32.36 we receive turns into two hours of advice, support and listening.  

Your kindness will mean our caseworker can be there for Georgia and others from day one and for as long as it takes.

Listening and providing access to legal support, helping with welfare claims and signposting financial help. As well as working with the patient and their family to get access to rehab, psychological support and everything needed to help aid recovery.

Thank you for supporting Georgia.

Georgia with mum, dad and Day One outreach worker, Amanda.