
2 minute read
The year in numbers
It was a difficult year for Meningitis Now, but with lots to be proud of too:
100% of callers to our Helpline feel more confident dealing with the issue raised.
Cases of meningococcal disease (meningitis and septicaemia) reduced by as much as 80% across the UK.1
Our website was visited on an average 2.2 times every minute.
On average, a typical adult would have read or heard about Meningitis Now eight times in the media.
Our ‘Don’t assume it’s Covid’ student campaign was broadcast to 40 million listeners on radio.
Our ‘Roundtable’ partnership to raise meningitis awareness included organisations such as Pfizer, GSK, NHS England, Public Health England, a Life for a Cure, MRF and Boots.
Over £100k was raised through the 2.6 Challenge, including £75k by our Junior Ambassador, Harmonie-Rose. Staff numbers reduced from 59 to 36 – a drop of 40% – as we managed the financial effects of Covid-19.
We provided 62 Young Futures Fund and 35 Rebuilding Futures Fund awards to people and families across the UK. Savings of over £1m against planned expenditure had to be found thanks to the disruptive effect of Covid-19.
127
young people have been involved in our Believe & Achieve programme.
We were grateful to receive donations from 92 grant-making bodies. We distributed 486,911 Signs and Symptoms cards in partnership with Bounty.
A dedicated Covid-19 support page on our website received nearly 70,000 visits – making it the fourth most visited page on our website.
Keep Meningitis in Mind
In June, we carried out a ‘Coronavirus Impact Survey’ to find out how the pandemic was affecting people whose lives had already been impacted by meningitis. Some 285 people responded to the survey and told us about the things they were most worried about during this difficult time, including their finances, the risk of Covid-19, home schooling and missing friends and family. But for people already affected by meningitis, these concerns were amplified or more complicated because they were already living with the impact of the disease:
• 53% of people said that Covid-19 was having a negative impact on their mental health and emotional wellbeing.
• 48% found a loss of their support network difficult.
• 53% were worried that they or a family member would contract the virus.
But people also reported the positive impact that a slower pace of life had for their physical after-effects and mental health, in some cases enjoying more quality time with family and the reduced pressure from schooling or working from home.
• 55% of people said that they had found some things easier.
The survey was instrumental in enabling us to target information and support activities to those who needed it most. We responded by:
• Producing a series of blogs and information materials that covered topics including mental health and emotional wellbeing, bereavement and Covid-19 concerns.
• Creating our Young Futures Fund (pp 11) which provided emergency financial awards for children and young people to support their education, learning and development.
• Developing a series of ‘Keep Connected’ virtual support events (pp 12) for adults and young people covering a range of topics including mental health and legal rights.