This is an appeal on behalf of the trustees of SOS Special Educational Needs. As you are probably aware, we help parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities to obtain the right support and education for their children. We operate a free telephone helpline and walk-in SEN advice centres.

Our Charity is in desperate need of funds to continue the work that we do. We have been forced to close our charity shop due to the restrictions put in place by the government aimed at preventing the spread of Coronavirus. This puts us in a very difficult financial position as our charity is heavily reliant on the income generated by the shop. We do not receive any grants or sponsorship and all our income comes from donations and a limited number of fundraising events all of which have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Much of what we do relies on faceto-face contact with parents at advice centres and workshops or meetings. These have been put on hold. We are currently looking into providing services in other ways, including online learning and we are keeping the helpline running, but our primary means of generating income have been curtailed significantly by recent events.

We anticipate that when schools re-open there will be an increased demand for our services. When current restrictions on commercial premises being open have been relaxed, and people can start shopping, then the shop will start to produce an income stream once again. We are keen to do all we can to stay afloat in the meantime. However, we find ourselves in a precarious position at the moment and we are, accordingly, exploring a range of measures, to include this appeal to you, to ensure the charity's survival.

We do hope that you can support our charity by making a donation however small to help us survive this most difficult time..