FAQs

The STV Children’s Appeal supporting Scotland’s children and young people who are affected by poverty.

The money raised by the STV Children’s Appeal helps make a real difference to those who need it most by providing practical help like food and warm clothes; creating opportunities for training and employability and enabling social and emotional support.

For more details about how the STV Children’s Appeal helps, visit the About Us section of the website

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The STV Children’s Appeal promises to:

• Give every penny of every pound that you donate to the children who need it most right here in Scotland.
• Give a voice to children who can’t be heard.
• Support a community project in every single local authority in Scotland.
• Create chances for every child to realise their full potential.

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We use all of the money we get to support projects helping children and young people right here in Scotland.

Since 2011, the STV Children’s Appeal has raised over £30 million. This has allowed us to make big and small awards across every local authority area in Scotland, providing much needed support to children and young people affected by poverty.

In 2023, the Scottish Government once again match-funded the first £1m raised.

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Every penny raised by the STV Children’s Appeal remains in Scotland and 100% of donations are spent on the young people and families who need it most. Administration costs are covered by STV and by a portion of The Wood Foundation’s donation to the Appeal. The Wood Foundation has partnered with the Appeal since 2013, donating over a million pounds to date.

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The STV Children’s Appeal works closely with Scotland’s leading experts in the field of child poverty, sharing knowledge and expertise with both small community groups and national charities on their experiences of addressing the challenges of child poverty in Scotland.

The STV Children’s Appeal doesn’t operate an open grant making model which means that you can’t apply directly for funds. Instead, we identify our partner projects across the year in the context of their contribution to addressing issues of child poverty in their communities.

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• Lorraine Kelly, Television Personality
• Paul Reynolds, Chairman, STV Group plc
• Sir Ian Wood, The Wood Foundation
• Alison MacLachlan, The Wood Foundation
• Bobby Hain, Director of Broadcast, STV Group plc
• Jimmy Paul, Head of Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
• Cathy McCulloch OBE, Children’s Parliament

In addition, Sir Harry Burns, Professor of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde and Fiona McKenzie OBE, Founder CentreStage are both advisors to the Board.

They have agreed to the following policies:

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The News section of this website will keep you up to date on all of the latest activity taking place across Scotland. If you use social media, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. And make sure you are signed up to receive our newsletter.

If you have any questions or queries about the STV Children’s Appeal please get in touch with us.

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Of course! The STV Children’s Appeal Team would love to hear all about your fundraising plans or how you raised money for the STV Children’s Appeal.

Throughout the campaign, we will celebrate our ‘Fundraising Heroes’ on the STV Children’s Appeal website so please send us your stories and photos to stvappeal@stv.tv.

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If you’re making a donation or are sponsoring a friend and you pay tax, then it is possible the HM Revenue and Customs will give the charity an extra 25p for every pound raised. This means a donation of £10 could be worth an extra £2.50 to the STV Children’s Appeal. This is an easy way to help more children but you must tick the gift aid box on your sponsorship or donation form.

Complete a Gift Aid Declaration form to ensure that your donations can be boosted by 25% at no cost to you – it takes just a few seconds.

More details about Gift Aid.

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The first thing with all fundraising activity is to consider whether it is safe, legal and appropriate. Fundraising is better when it’s fun however you must remember that the STV Children’s Appeal helps children so we ask you to think about the your activity choice carefully before progressing with plans.

Some guidance is available from the Institute of Fundraising should you need it or get in touch with our fundraising team who will be happy to assist you.

• Depending on the what you decide to do, think about the safety of the event by carrying out a risk assessment and if there are children involved make sure there is adult supervision in place.
• You might also need to consider licenses and local authority by-laws if outside or if the activity involves alcohol and live entertainment.
• You should always consider whether you need appropriate insurance cover for your fundraising activity. The STV Children’s Appeal cannot accept responsibility for the organisation and running of your activity so if you have doubts, don’t do it.
• If you decide to fundraise for the Appeal then let us know beforehand. It helps us keep a track of everyone who is supporting us and it also helps us to let the rest of Scotland know fabulous fundraising activities you are doing!

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We don’t advise that you collect money in a public place or door to door. If you do choose to do so, you will need a license from your local authority and/or permission from the owner of private property (which includes shops and restaurants).

You should be able to find details about this on your local authority’s website. When it comes to collecting money and counting it, is is always a good idea to keep at least two people present.

If you know of a business who is willing to have a collecting can or bucket, please get in touch and we can supply them.

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Raffles are a great way of raising funds for charity, but there are strict legal requirements about the organisation of raffles, lotteries and prize draws. If you’re planning on organising your own raffle, please check the rules on the Gambling Commission website.

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Posters and sponsorship forms are available to download on the Get Involved page of this site. If you don’t find what you are looking for you can also contact the STV Children’s Appeal Team at stvappeal@stv.tv

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We are always keen to hear from you. Please get in touch if you have any comments, suggestions or complaints. Here’s how you can get in touch:

• Call us: Telephone: 0141 300 3858
• Email us: stvappeal@stv.tv
• Write to us: STV Children’s Appeal, Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1PQ

Our aim is to solve any problem to your complete satisfaction, and a member of the STV Children’s Appeal team will try to do this as quickly as possible. Where we can, we try to resolve complaints within 5 working days. Please note that if the complaint is complex, it may take us a little longer. In which case we will contact you within the 5 working days to give you an update and let you know when we expect to be able to fully respond to your complaint. If we are unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction , you can ask for a review from our Trustee Board who will contact you directly.

If we are unable to reach a mutually agreeable resolution then we will have exhausted our internal complaints procedure. However you can refer your complaint to the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel, the independent charity complaints regulator.

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• STV Children’s Appeal is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered in Scotland with number SC042429.
• Registered offices are at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1PQ.
• Contact STV Children’s Appeal by e-mail at: stvappeal@stv.tv or by post at Pacific Quay, Glasgow G51 1PA.

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Text

You must be 16 or over to make a text donation. If you are not the billpayer, then you must have the bill payer’s permission before sending a text. Donations will be charged directly to your mobile phone. Texts cost your donation plus one standard rate message. 100% of your text donation will go to the STV Appeal.

The STV Appeal Text Donation Services Network is promoted by STV Appeal and the STV Broadcasters (STV Central Limited and STV North Limited).

The Network Service is provided by Open Mobile Global Limited (“OMG”) with Openmarket Limited, and Fonix Mobile Limited.

Phone

You may make a donation by phoning number 0808 254 0000 and following the instructions during the period in which the phone donation service is available. This is a freephone service however check with your network provider as standard geographical charges may apply from landlines and mobiles. The phone lines are automated and will close at midnight on 28 November 2024.

The automated telephone (IVR) service is provided by Upward Communications Limited.

For any payment queries: Contact STV Appeal team on 0141 300 3858 or email stvappeal@stv.tv

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Where can I download the STV Children’s Appeal’s Financial Statement?

Please click on the button below to download a copy of our Financial Statement.