Sparks Charity

Sparks partnered with GOSH Charity as a subsidiary in 2017 to improve the Charity’s overall return on investment in order to channel more money into funding ground-breaking research projects into children’s health across the UK.

In 2020, we made the decision to fully merge Sparks into GOSH Charity at the end of the financial year, 31 March 2021. Over the 30 years of its existence, Sparks has made a real difference to the lives of many children who suffer from rare and complex diseases but as a charity that was already facing financial challenges, Sparks was not able to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19, which is why the decision was taken. 

GOSH Charity remains committed to funding paediatric research nationally. As a result of the merger we can guarantee the continuation of Sparks’ important work, by committing to the same level of funding for research into rare and complex diseases (at least £2m a year), and ensure the history of Sparks and its name will live on within GOSH Charity.

If you previously supported Sparks, you can still raise money to fund ground-breaking research through GOSH Charity – please get in touch to find out more.

If you’d like to support paediatric research – just get in touch. You can support research with a regular donation, or in lots of other ways:

• Do your own fundraising
• Charity fundraising events

If you’re a researcher and would like to apply for a grant, click here.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Sparks fundraising, with the majority of the events it relied on to raise its funds cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Sparks was facing a 55% drop in income and this was sadly not something the charity could recover from. In light of this and the need to make the best use of our resources to help seriously ill children, we took the decision to fully merge Sparks into GOSH Charity and this came into effect on 31 March 2021.

Since its founding in 1991, nearly 30 years ago, Sparks has funded over £30 million of research into over 80 childhood conditions making a difference to the lives of many children.

As a result of the merger with GOSH Charity, GOSH Charity can guarantee the continuation of Sparks’ important work. This includes a commitment to funding at least £2million of child health research nationally each year through the national call, for the next five years.

This means that researchers who are already receiving funding from Sparks, and the upcoming grants that will be made via the next round of the Sparks and GOSH Charity joint “National Call” will not be affected by the decision to merge.

Yes, absolutely – never has your support been more needed. As a result of the merger with GOSH Charity, GOSH Charity can guarantee the continuation of Sparks’ important work. This includes a commitment to funding at least £2million of paediatric research nationally each year through the national call, for the next five years. There are many ways you can support the funding of pioneering child health research and we’d be delighted to discuss this with you further – please do get in touch via supporter.care@gosh.org.