We Love Manchester fund to stop taking donations
THE We Love Manchester fund set up in the wake of the Arena atrocity is to stop taking donations after raising £21.4m for victims and their families, it has been announced.
Some 22 people died - including children - and 800 others suffered significant physical or psychological injury in a suicide bombing at Manchester Arena following an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017.
The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund was set up and £2m was pledged within 24 hours of the attack. The fund went on to raise much more to help the bereaved and injured. The charity’s annual report published today reveals the fund will stop taking donations from January 31 next year.
The report revealed that 95% of the £21.4m donated has now been given out, most of it in cash gifts to the bereaved or injured and about £3m to those who suffered psychological trauma.
Just £750,000 of the cash raised remains and it will be handed out following consultation with doctors about how to best help the most seriously injured survivors.
The annual report also coincides with the release of the independent review into the workings of the charity which was commissioned by its trustees, among them M.E.N. editorin-chief Darren Thwaites. It will serve as a record of how to manage a disaster fund, including observation on what worked well and what could have been done differently. It was the first such fund to hand out payments to people because they had suffered psychological trauma as a result of an attack or disaster.
Edith Conn, chair of the trustees, said: “The generosity and solidarity shown by the public in the wake of the Manchester Arena terror attack was truly inspiring. People from Manchester and across the world overwhelmingly responded with love and I know this has given great solace and support to those who lost loved ones or suffered life-changing injuries or psychological trauma.
“As trustees, our guiding principle throughout has been to help as many people as possible, but especially those who are most in need. The swiftness with which the emergency fund was established enabled us to provide support very quickly.
“The fund, by its very nature, was never intended as a permanent charity, but as an urgent response to people’s immediate needs.
“While its work will continue for some time, as people’s grief, injuries and trauma are ongoing, the time has arrived when the charity’s work is able to start being scaled down.
“Now that 95% of the donations have been distributed, it is an appropriate time to reflect on what we achieved and what we learned along the way. That’s why we commissioned the independent review, to help others understand our processes.
“While no two terror attacks or disasters are identical, and as such, no emergency fund can operate in exactly the same way as those which preceded it, we hope the lessons drawn together in this document can help provide an answer should anyone need to ask ‘What did they do in Manchester?’”