In August 2021, Virgin Money Giving (VMG) announced the closure of their fundraising platform, after 12 years of operating. We understand that this closure will affect some our supporters who have chosen to fundraise for us using this platform, so we want to provide some reassurance and guidance for those affected.

What does this mean for you?

The VMG website will remain open until midnight on 30^th November 2021. After this date, the platform will stop accepting one-off or regular donations to our main charity account, or donations to any fundraising pages that have been set up in aid of the charity.

Advice for Fundraisers

If you currently have a fundraising page open on VMG, all funds donated to your page will still be paid to us until the closure date. After this date, you will no longer have access to your fundraising page and no further donations can be made against this. If you would like to save any messages of support that have been left on your page by friends and family, you can save your webpage as a PDF prior to the closure. Please read VMG's FAQ's section for guidance on how to do this.

If you have a fundraising page for an event which will take place beyond this date, this means that your fundraising page will close on 30^th November and you will need to set up a new fundraising page on an alternative platform. Don’t worry though, as you can set up your fundraising page in aid of the charity on our website and our fundraising team will support you throughout the process.

It only takes a few minutes to this set up and you can add a personal story, upload lots of photos and provide regular updates on how you are doing. What’s more, once it is created, you can easily share the page with your family, friends and colleagues via email or to your social media channels. Sharing your page online means that people can sponsor you from anywhere, at any time, safely and securely, whilst also leaving you a message of support. If any donations are eligible for Gift Aid, we can automatically collect this on your behalf.

Simply read our guide on setting up a fundraising page, which will give you step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

Any questions?

If you have any questions regarding your account or fundraising page on VMG prior to the platform’s closure on 30^th November, please visit VMG's FAQ section, or contact them direct by emailing: [email protected]  

If you have any queries regarding your fundraising in aid of the charity, or how to set up a fundraising page on our website, our fundraising team will be delighted to help you. Simply call: 01823 669604 or email: [email protected]

Finally…

We would like to say thank you for supporting us in whichever way you can. We rely on your fundraising and donations to continue providing our life-saving service and to raise our operational costs of over £5 million per year. It is with thanks to your support, that we can be there for critically ill or injured patients when they need us the most. So on behalf of the patients that need us, thank you for your generosity and continued support.