Our impact Since March 2020 our impact has been defined by the extent to which we managed to meet the needs of Aplastic Anaemia community during the pandemic. Many people living with AA, and their whole households, have been shielding since last March. One of the most important jobs for us has been to keep the information on shielding guidance up to date and support our community through the challenges it presents. We have provided clarity on the guidelines and tier system; ensured AA patients are given Clinically Extremely Vulnerable status letters by their GPs and published vaccine administration guidelines. Prolonged shielding has caused extreme anxiety and a deep sense of isolation in our community, and we do not yet know the long-term impact that this might have on mental health and wellbeing. To address the profound impact of Covid on our community, we have been delivering work that is wide ranging and agile, responding to needs as we discovered them. Our aims throughout the pandemic are to: Identify, reach and connect with AA patients and their families through channels including our support line, Facebook community, peer-to-peer support, and referrals from clinicians. Develop infrastructure and organisational resilience to support our UK wide community, and shift to an entirely remote operation. Advocate for our community to ensure they’re fully represented and supported by the healthcare system and policy decisions relating to covid. Understand long term impacts of Covid beyond the pandemic itself. Develop and deliver accurate, trusted information resources which are tailored to the needs of our community. Identify and swiftly respond to additional areas of urgent need arising as a result of the crisis. The Covid-19 Response Report from January 2021 provides an overview and some examples of how we are performing against these aims so far. We are very proud of the way our tiny organisation has risen to the unprecedented challenges of the last year and would like to say a huge thank you to the funders who have provided us with additional resources to support aplastic anaemia patients through this difficult time - when they need us more than ever before. Manage Cookie Preferences