Schizophrenia is a difficult subject for which to raise money.
The realities of living with a mental illness are too often forsaken in favour of lurid headlines and simplistic soundbites that fail to portray the complex and rounded lives of people with mental illness. Yet, despite the stigma surrounding the illness, our projects show just what a difference we can make to the quality of people's lives. NSF's service provision, such as accommodation schemes or employment projects have been mainly funded from statutory sources. Our information and support services, however, such as offering advice, advocacy and representation through our National Advice Service to 12,000 enquirers each year on a wide range of problems, together with our national research and campaign work, are almost exclusively funded from voluntary sources. We have a dedicated Trust Fundraiser who is responsible for matching NSF's project funding needs with the criteria of charitable trust funders.