Welcome

To our Breathing Matters family

Welcome to our new website for patients and supporters.

Thanks to your continued support, Breathing Matters is now in its 10^th year!

As a result of 10 strong years of funding research into pulmonary fibrosis and lung infection, we have achieved many things including:

• The UK’s first treatment for IPF.
• Funding clinical fellows and their ground-breaking research.
• Pioneering non-invasive techniques to diagnose IPF.
• Improving GP awareness and treatment of lung infections.
• Better ways of predicting and detecting pulmonary fibrosis.

At Breathing Matters, our philosophy is to ensure that our income goes towards vital research, and last year, 98.9% of your donations financed research in support of treatments and cures.

As we enter our second decade, we have been fortunate in receiving a legacy specifically aimed at reinvigorating our efforts to raise awareness and drive donations, and we are delighted to announce our refreshed website with updated information and guidance as well as updates on our latest research.

Based on your feedback, we’re also excited to share with you our redefined focus for the next 10 years.

Breathing Matters Rebrand and the Top Ten Changes:

1. A clearer strategy and mission

Breathing Matters’ mission is to raise awareness and inspire fundraising for research into pulmonary fibrosis and lung infection. We strive to improve the lives of every pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis and lung infection patient by funding vital research into treatments and cures, and by improving awareness and knowledge of these conditions.

2. Redefined values

Trusted – We are transparent in how your donations are spent, we will share our research knowledge and provide reliable, high-quality content that will influence practice.

Pioneering – We will look to lead the way with innovative research, supporting UCL Respiratory.

Agile – We are committed to initiating research efficiently, and using funds with minimal overheads.

Collaborative – We will involve our charitable supporters in our research projects, empower them to help and work with other partners to help drive research forward.

Determined – We are passionate in our research to create better treatments and ultimately a cure; we will never give up!

3. A logo to reflect our pioneering research

Next, we designed a new logo.  We wanted to retain the central theme of the pinwheel, but update the logo to reflect the charity’s core scientific background and work in research and development. Our main focus is to drive pioneering research.

4. An engaging website redesigned with your input

Then, we set about building a new website.  And you helped with this.  A year ago, we asked you what you would like to see in our new website.  We listened to what you said and designed our new website with your views in mind.

5. A dedicated page for you to read about our research

You said you would like to read about our research.  We now have a dedicated page for our research, including all our current trials as well as our recent research into pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis and other interstitial lung diseases and lung infections.  Research is the life and breath of everything we do. It is why we are here, and we hope that you enjoy reading about how your donations have helped our research projects.

6. A brand new donation page to make giving easier

You said you would like to see how you can donate to help fund our research.  We have created a brand new donation page with a quick one-stop donate button.  We have also included all the different ways that you can donate to our research projects, including donating in memory or in a will and how you can give regular donations.  Almost 99% of supporter donations were directed straight to our research in 2019/2020 – we are able to do this by keeping our overheads low, unlike many other larger charities, and you can be safe in the knowledge that your donations go further with Breathing Matters.

7. More information for you about your respiratory condition

You said you would like to see information about your respiratory condition. We have improved our lung disease pages and they are now in an easy-to-read format.  They give details on how to diagnose, on the causes and the treatment as well as our current research into each area.  We have also added tips for everyday life … health matters!

8. Making it easier for you to get involved

You wanted to know more about how you can get involved.  We have included a new ‘Get Involved’ page, especially for our supporters, giving ways you can help make a difference, including joining one of our events, advice on fundraising, different ideas for donating, including our new online shop with fantastic merchandise displaying our new logo, as well as ways of raising awareness.

9. Keeping you informed on fundraising events

You wanted to know more about our fundraising events. We have redesigned our events page and included our local and national events along with global adventure challenges, highlighting popular events for you.  We have also included our new virtual fundraising events along with seasonal challenges.  To finish off, we have also included tips for your fundraising.

10. Keeping you updated with regular newsletters

You said you would like to continue receiving our newsletters. We will carry on sending you up to date breakthroughs on our research, behind the scene insights and exciting new challenges via our newsletters, and you will be able to find new and previous newsletters easily on the website on the ‘About Us’ page.  We would also like to include your stories, so please get in touch if you would like to feature on our newsletters or on our website.

We really hope you like our new branding and focus as much as we do and we hope that you enjoy and benefit from all the information on our website.

We would like to say a massive thank you both to our supporters that have been with us for 10 years but also to our new supporters.  A heartfelt thank you to those who have donated towards our vital research into pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis and lung infections.

Every donation no matter how large or small will make a difference.  With your help, together we can make a difference.

From the Breathing Matters Team