Starting fund for accident victim

Sonny_blues

Totally new to forum. A friend has been seriously injured in a car accident and currently in intensive care. His family have very little money and his friends desperately want to raise money initially to help them with transport to hospital and general living costs but also looking to future. How do we go about setting up funds. An account? Completely clueless but really need advice.

Netwizard

Easiest thing to do is setup a paypal account. Everyone who wants to can easily pay into it then

fluffnutter

Another vote for paypal. People with their own paypal accounts will find it easy to transfer money and for those who don't, you can use paypal as a guest and make a one off payment.

sunshinetours

set up a justgiving page as you can add reasons and background

Browntoa

justgiving page is best, especially if you can get a local paper to pick up the story

23 year old down my way ill with bowel cancer , £3000 raised in a few days for the family

tyllwyd

You do need to have a think about it all - if you raise money by telling people it will support the family while your friend is in hospital, what happens if your friend sadly passes away but there is a significant amount of money left? Who will be able to access this money? A simple gift of cash is probably the easiest in the short term.

duchy

Do his family WANT his friends to do this ?
I remember some years ago a bloke who people knew from a local pub was in a similar situation -people knew him but not his wife.......... They raised money and she refused to accept "charity" and was very embarassed by the whole thing-Adding stress for her and her family at an already difficult time.
If you want to help in the short term why not get all these people who want to help to organize rotas to make sure the family have lifts to the hospital every day and someone to be able to take them shopping when they need to etc. Often practical help is much more valuable than money -and easier to accept. I know when my Mum was in intensive care - the most valuable thing for me were people who helped out with childcare so I didn't have to drag my young son on a long journey to the hospital every day.

Grumpelstiltskin

How can anyone ask for money for Mr X if I don't like to say it he does exist?


You are going about this totally the wrong way.


The family need to contact the hospital, they will know what help if any is available locally.


Just because someone is in hospital doesn't give you in my mind the right to start asking all and sundry for money.


Start with his friends and family.


Sorry but I don't know how you can ask for help in a situation which is far from unique, 99.9% of people in this situation just get on with it.

Savvy_Sue

You can't set up a JustGiving page for an individual, only for a charity.

Ettenna

What do you mean by family? Is it a wife/husband, children, parents? It depends on the circumstances. My daughter was seriously injured in a car accident leaving her in a vegetative state still, over a year later. All her care needs are provided for. She is in a Neuro rehab place and all her needs are still met.

If your friend was working then they should get sick pay. If they weren't then their family can apply for benefits on his/her behalf as an appointee. I claim ESA for my daughter and use it to fund her extra costs such as clothing, toiletries but I also use it to pay for petrol to visit her once a week.

Depending on the type of injuries, there may be grants available to help with transport costs. Headway for instance have an emergency fund that they can apply for to help with transport.

It was only a year after her accident that her friends did a fundraising event and this was for the hospital where she is cared for and for the charity who have been most helpful to me (The Brain Injury Group). It didn't occur to us to raise money specifically for my daughter.

mountainofdebt

duchy wrote: »

Do his family WANT his friends to do this ?
I remember some years ago a bloke who people knew from a local pub was in a similar situation -people knew him but not his wife.......... They raised money and she refused to accept "charity" and was very embarassed by the whole thing-Adding stress for her and her family at an already difficult time.
If you want to help in the short term why not get all these people who want to help to organize rotas to make sure the family have lifts to the hospital every day and someone to be able to take them shopping when they need to etc. Often practical help is much more valuable than money -and easier to accept. I know when my Mum was in intensive care - the most valuable thing for me were people who helped out with childcare so I didn't have to drag my young son on a long journey to the hospital every day.

Basically as Duchy has said.