Written by Bev Lambert, Over the Rainbow Children’s Charity
Over the Rainbow Children's Charity received registered charity status on 14th October 2015. The aim of the charity is to support children with serious or life limiting illnesses by providing specialist equipment to help them with their development or just support with day to day living.
What makes our little charity unique is that we are 100% volunteer lead, no payroll expenses. Therefore, all money raised or donated stays within the charity.
We support children living in Suffolk under the age of 16 years by providing equipment such as hoists, nursing beds, wheelchairs, specialist seating, epilepsy monitors, sensory equipment and padded play or 'safe' areas. Occasionally, we may organise a fun day out where a child is able to travel.
We strongly believe that having the use of specialised equipment has a massive impact on a child’s quality of life and independence. It is vital in helping them to overcome obstacles and achieve their 
potential. However, there is no statutory right for children and young people with a disability to be provided with medical equipment by the government or NHS and children are unfortunately slipping through the net which is where we may be able to help.
There are so many children and young people living in the UK with a serious or life-threatening illness meaning we will never be able to support every child. However, for each child we do support, our own dreams come true.
Being such a small charity means we do not have money for expensive marketing. We rely on word of mouth, our own fundraising events and being a chosen charity for organisations and businesses.
We attend external events throughout the year as well as organising our own and are looking forward to meeting lots of you at ISSBA events in the coming year.
Thank you to ISSBA for selecting us as this year’s charity of the year. We are grateful to everyone for supporting us.
If you would like to find out more, please visit our website or click here to donate.