Your donation doubled with the Big Give Christmas Challenge! 
From 1st-8th December 2026, CLAPA is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, where every eligible donation will be doubled in value and impact.
About the Big Give Christmas Challenge
The Big Give Christmas Challenge allows your gifts to have twice the value and twice the impact thanks to our generous match funders doubling every donation through the Big Give portal, which will go live on 1st December at 12 noon.
Big Give alert!
Sign up to receive an alert when the Big Give Christmas Challenge launches on 1st December.
We'll send you an email when the campaign goes live so you can make your donation.
Why CLAPA is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge
People affected by cleft can need support throughout their lives. Alongside clinical care, families and individuals can face challenges with feeding, speech, dental care, emotional wellbeing, confidence and navigating services.
Almost 60% of parents are highly concerned about their child’s emotional wellbeing, dental health and the lack of understanding of cleft among teachers and GPs.
CLAPA provides free, accessible support designed with and for the cleft community, including one-to-one support, events, youth mentoring, information, guidance and advocacy.
But we receive no government or NHS funding and we can only provide our vital services with the support of our community and donors. This Christmas, that support can go twice as far.
Your donations can help CLAPA continue providing free support for people affected by cleft throughout their lives, so no one goes through their cleft journey alone.
Twice the value, twice the impact
This Christmas, will you help us be there for every cleft journey? Sign up for alerts.
Your impact
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£2 will turn into £4
Which could provide new families with vital information to help them navigate parenthood of a child with cleft
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£15 will turn into £30
Which could provide a new family with a specialist feeding bottles and teats
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£45 will turn into £90
Which could provide clarity and support to a member of the cleft community through our advocacy service
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£107 will turn into £214
Which could fund a match in our parent and peer support service, giving a member of the cleft community direct access to a trained volunteer for support, guidance and companionship.
Frequently Asked Questions
All donations made through the Big Give portal (which goes live on 1st December at 12 noon) will be matched until we hit our target.
The following donations will not be matched during the Big Give Christmas Challenge:
- Direct debits and regular donations (such as monthly, quarterly and annual gifts), including new regular donations set up during the week of the Challenge
- Donations through other websites and platforms such as Just Giving, Enthuse, CAF, or Committed Giving – you must donate through the Big Give Portal for your donation to be included.
- Donations made directly into our bank account (see below for how to donate to the Big Give via your bank if you don’t have a credit/debit card)
- Donations made via cheque
If you’re not sure, contact our fundraising team at [email protected] to make sure your donation will be included.
You will be told if matching funds are available or not when you donate. When donating, match funds are reserved for 30 minutes to complete the donation. All donations are matched in real-time, and you can see how much match funding has been allocated to your donation.
Debit/Credit card
You can make a debit or credit card payment on the Big Give portal (also compatible with Google and Apple pay)
The following card types are accepted: Mastercard | Visa | Maestro | Switch | Solo | Delta | American Express
Card donations can be from £1 up to £25,000.
Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank allows you to donate without the need for a card, making a donation using just your bank account and banking app. Simply follow the donation process on the Big Give portal and when you reach step 3 of the donation process, select the Pay by Bank option and then follow the on-screen instructions.
Donations can be from £1 up to £10,000 using Pay By Bank. Find out more about Pay by Bank here.
Donation Funds (BACS donations)
This option is designed for donors giving £500 or more who would prefer not to use a debit or credit card. Donations are securely processed through Stripe and credited to a Big Give donor account. Find out more about BACS donations.
Yes! As long as you donate through the Big Give portal using one of the above methods, you can donate from outside of the UK (please note the donation must be made in GBP). Make sure you only tick the ‘Gift Aid’ box if you pay tax in the UK.
We have a ‘pot’ of £18,750 to use as match funding for donations received during the week. If we get over £18,750 in donations that week, those extra donations won’t be matched. We’ll make sure to announce if this happens.
As a small charity, this is a VERY ambitious target, so we’ll be delighted if we hit it!
Yes! You can pay in fundraised money through the Big Give portal and have it matched.
Just make sure not to tick the ‘Gift Aid’ box as fundraised money is not eligible for Gift Aid.
We have secured a pot of match funding from The Patrick & Helena Frost Foundation and The Reed Foundation. They have pledged to match every eligible donation this week and we are incredibly grateful for their support.
Yes, if you are a UK taxpayer and your donation qualifies for Gift Aid you will be able to select this during the donation process.
Yes, the Big Give website charges:
- UK and EU Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Switch, Solo and Delta donations = 1.9% of donation amount (without Gift Aid) + 25p + VAT
- Non-EU and American Express donations = 3.2% of donation amount (without Gift Aid) + 25p + VAT
- Donation Funds (BACS bank transfer) and Pay by Bank = 1.5% of donation amount (without Gift Aid) + 25p + VAT
These fees are similar to other payment processing platforms. To find out more, visit the Big Give here.
When making your donation, you will also be asked if you would like to make a voluntary contribution to support the running of the platform. If you would prefer not to, make sure to select other from the drop-down menu and enter 0.
If you have trouble using the donation platform, please contact [email protected]
Big Give Christmas Challenge 2026 Alert
Sign up to get an email alert when the Big Give Christmas Challenge starts at 12 noon on Tuesday 1st December.