About funding:
The Chronicle Sunshine Fund was established in 1928 when King George V visited Newcastle to open the Tyne Bridge. In order to commemorate this special occasion, he donated a birthday cheque of £15 to enable Tyneside children to have a day out at the coast.
The Chronicle adopted the fund as its own charity and over the years has raised thousands of pounds to help children. Re-launched in 1995, the fund now helps provide specialist equipment for children with disabilities throughout the North East.
Who can apply?
Organisations and individuals from The Chronicle circulation area are eligible to apply which includes:
- Newcastle
- Tyne & Wear
- Durham
- Northumberland
The child/children must be 18 year old or under and must not have applied to The Chronicle Sunshine Fund in the last 12 months.
The Chronicle Sunshine Fund helps improve the quality of life by providing specialised equipment to children with disabilities, equipment that is not funded by the NHS or any other source, such as:
- Trikes
- IT equipment (please see information below)
- Wheelchairs
- Profiling beds
- Specialised seating
- Sensory equipment
- Hydrotherapy equipment
If successful or unsuccessful, you will have to wait a full 12 months before you can apply again.
How to apply:
Download our application form and our equipment application guidelines or email [email protected] for an application pack.
You need to:
- Equipment Application Form 2015 - Unfortunately we have had to defer and reject applications due to unsatisfactory information, please make sure you complete the application in full.
- Submit two supporting letters to support the application. This can be an OT, Teacher, GP, Hospital or Nursery, the two letters need to state why the child will benefit from the piece of equipment.
- Submit two quotes - We require two quotes for the equipment that you require. We have a list of suppliers that our beneficiaries have used in the past, if you would like us to recommend any suppliers, please contact us for details on 0191 2016090 or email [email protected]
Applicants will receive an acknowledgement email once we have received the application, we may ask for additional information so please make sure you supply us with the correct email address as we are now in the process of contacting all our applicant’s this way to save on postage costs.
We always ask individuals or organisations to be featured in the Chronicle newspaper if successful, as the publicity helps raise awareness and helps others looking for support and for local businesses to come forward to make donations. Please state on your application if you would be happy for this to be arranged (see question 21).
Exclusions:
- Assistance for holidays / trips
- Contributions to general fundraising appeals
- Garden / home renovation or improvement
- Travel or car lease
- Childcare costs
- Professional fees / costs
- Training / College Fees
- Insurance & Protection Covers for IT equipment
Forthcoming Meeting Dates & Deadlines For Submitting Applications:
Deadlines for applications: 31st March 2016, 31st July 2016 and 30th November 2016.
Please make sure that we receive documents and information by the deadline above, if any information is missing we will have to hold your application until the following meeting.
It may take up to two weeks after the meetings to receive information regarding our decision, but all applicants will be notified, by email.
Equipment:
Cheques for the equipment will be sent to the applicant named on the application form. The cheque will be made payable to supplier that is providing the equipment, it is then your responsibility to then organise purchase of the equipment.
PLEASE NOTE: A number of suppliers will not except cheques as payment or are only online stores that require payment with a credit card.
Our criteria is to make payment by cheque so please make sure the supplier that you have chosen will accept this payment method.
Important Information – IT Equipment:
Trustees of The Chronicle Sunshine Fund have decided to cap the amount that we can award for certain IT items. The money that will be available if your application is successful is adequate for the standard items that you will require i.e an iPad 2. If you have a reason why you require a more updated version i.e an iPad 4 then please state a case in your application with supporting evidence (evidence needs to be provided in your supporting letters).
From January 2014 the amounts below will be available for IT equipment if successful:
Laptop - £300
iPad - £330
Desktop computer - £400
Where to apply:
Applications should be sent to:
Julieanne Kelly
Assessor
Chronicle Sunshine Fund
Groat Market
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1ED
If you have any further questions please call 0191 2016090.
The Chronicle Sunshine Fund is not responsible for the maintenance and / or ownership of any equipment purchased. The equipment is the responsibility of the organisation or the individual applying.