Funding for Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity

Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity (DVLCC) has received a £70,000 grant to support its work providing life-changing, bespoke support for children under five with cerebral palsy, chromosome abnormalities and rare genetic disorders.  

 The charity, located in East Sussex, was awarded the grant from media and entertainment group Global.

Thanks to generous donations from the UK public and partners to Global’s Make Some Noise charity, the grant to DVLCC will fund a senior paediatric physiotherapist for two years to deliver specialist early intervention for their children through their Learning Together Project.

Supporting over 100 children a week, DVLCC’s specialist early invention services provide weekly, personalised, play-based therapy to build strength, improve coordination and develop essential motor skills such as sitting, crawling and walking—helping to increase independence and quality of life.

Working within a specialist multidisciplinary team, the physiotherapist focuses on helping children develop physical abilities such as balance, coordination, and strength.  

They also empower parents with practical strategies to continue therapy at home and advise on appropriate equipment to enhance mobility. By enabling intensive support during these critical early years, this funding will help children achieve meaningful developmental milestones and reduce the risk of long-term disability.

Over the last 25 years, DVLCC has expanded its reach to support families from across the southeast, including West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, South London and beyond. The charity receives no statutory funding and relies entirely on community support to provide its vital services. It costs over £700,000 per year to run the full service which is provided free of charge to families.

“Thanks to the generosity of listeners from Global radio stations, this funding is a vital step forward in our mission to reach more children at the earliest possible stage of their development,” said Glenys Creese, CEO of DVLCC.

“By investing in specialist early intervention, we can give children with complex needs the best chance to build essential skills, gain independence and thrive. It enables us not only to expand our support to more families, but also to ensure that every child we work with has the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of the challenges they face.”

DVLCC are one of the 39 small charities who received a share of the funding from Global’s Make Some Noise, for life-changing projects in local communities across the UK.   

Every year, grants are awarded to small charities across the country to help fund the vital services they offer. Since its launch in 2014, Global’s Make Some Noise has supported 566 incredible local community projects and made a life changing difference to over 240,000 people across the UK.