Big Give 2026 Donations - The ME Association

A series of three images. the first one is lady at home looking out the window and ringing the ME Connect phone line for support. The second image is two smiling telephone operatives sat at a desk and talking to people phoning up the ME Connect support line. The third image is two men talking and one is putting his hand on the other man's shoulder as a gesture of support

Big Give 2026: No one should face ME alone this Christmas

Opens in December 1^st – 8^th 2026

The ME Association

support

changes

lives

From 1^st to 8^th December 2026, every donation to The ME Association through the Big Give Christmas Challenge will be matched pound for pound. Your gift goes twice as far, at no extra cost to you.

A £25 donation becomes £50. A £50 donation becomes £100.

Sign up to be reminded when Big Give opens:

Why your support matters this Christmas
More than 1.35 million people in the UK are living with ME/CFS or Long Covid. One in four people who are severely affected can’t leave their home or bed.
Christmas can be a very isolating time. While others celebrate with family and friends, many people with ME are housebound, bedbound, or facing the festive season alone.
For more than 45 years, The ME Association has supported people with ME and Long Covid, and the families and carers who support them. This Christmas, your donation will help make sure no one has to face ME alone.

What your donation will support

ME Connect: the only live support line for ME in the UK, answered by people who listen and believe you. In 2025 ME Connect answered more than 3,075 calls, 48% more than the year before. Your gift will help us keep the lines open for longer so more people get through.
Our online community: a place to connect with other people who understand, without having to leave home.
The ME Knowledge Bank: the UK’s largest free collection of literature on ME/CFS and Long Covid.
Trusted information and affordable membership: so people can understand their illness and get the right help.
Campaigning for better care: pushing for improved NHS and social care across the UK, encouraging the adoption of the NICE guideline, and supporting healthcare professionals to give better care.

Photos by artist Jeremy Jeffs, featuring people with ME: Andrew, Shreya and Cerith

What you made possible last year

Last year our members and supporters, with match funding from The Hospital Saturday Fund, raised an incredible £47,000 (including Gift Aid). That money funded a new Oxford research project into post-exertional malaise (PEM), and the research is now underway. Thank you.

Get a reminder so you don’t miss the match

Donations are only doubled between 1 and 8 December, and only through our special Big Give link. The easiest way to be ready is to sign up for a reminder, above.

We’ll email you when the Christmas Challenge opens, with the link you need to donate while your gift can be doubled.

Thank you for all your support!

The 2025 Big Give Christmas Challenge runs from midday on:
Tuesday 2nd December to midday on Tuesday 9th December.
Only donations made during this timeframe are eligible to be doubled from the match funding pot.

To be matched, donations must be made via the Big Give Christmas Challenge website.

You will only be able to donate there between midday Tuesday 2 December 2025 to midday on Tuesday 9 December 2025.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge website accepts the following card types:
• Mastercard
• Visa
• Maestro
• Switch
• Solo
• Delta
• American Express
• CAF Bank
• Business cards displaying the Mastercard logo

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 website charges:

EU Visa and MasterCard donations = 1.5% of donation amount (without Gift Aid) + 20p + VAT
Non EU and American Express donations = 3.2% of donation amount (without Gift Aid) + 20p + 3% of Gift Aid + VAT

You can find out more about the Big Give fees 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, select ‘other’ from the drop down menu and type ‘0’.

You will see “The Big Give ME Association” on your bank statement.

A matched funding pot has been built by kind supporters of the ME Association which is used to double your donation.

You can still make a donation, even if the match funding pot has run out. In fact, we would encourage you to do so – even though your donation won’t be doubled, it will still add to the total raised and support research for anyone affected ME/CFS.

Your kind donation will go directly to help fund the research study into Post Exertional Malaise, the hallmark of ME/CFS. To see the impact of your donation, please get in touch by emailing fundraising@meassociation.org.uk

If you have any difficulties using the platform, please email fundraising@meassociation.org.uk