Bryan Clover, chief executive officer of the Rainy Day Trust, explains how the RDT uses the funds it raises.

The VADO Rally 2016 was a major fundraising success for the Rainy Day Trust, but it only really represents half of the story; what we use the money for is incredibly important to the people who have taken the time and effort to raise it for us in the first place. The Trust has been helping people from the home improvement sector since 1843, but only recently has it broadened the range of services that it offers to those in need. We've recently launched our new housing advice service with Shelter and the next project in the pipeline is another partnership to deliver debt advice and solutions.

The Rainy Day Trust has been operating with a budget deficit for at least the last six years. That means that we are spending more money helping people than we raise each year. That's a good thing because it means we are reaching the people that need help, but while our fundraising efforts are growing, so do demands for our help and the drain on our resources, which makes the money raised by the Rally so important.

The income that we receive from our registered partners, along with our investment income, is enough to cover our running costs, so all of the money raised will be spent on the people that need it.

Our plan is to use the money raised by the Rally to pay for the first tranche of housing advice referrals with Shelter, pay for our license for the online welfare benefits checker next year, as well as to start the ball rolling on grants to people in need in the New Year.

You may not know, but we also provide badly needed support for builders' merchant apprentices and the money raised will allow us to offer financial and other help to young people starting out in the builders' merchant industry.

Earlier this year, we undertook some research to find out why so many young people failed to complete their apprenticeships. The most common reasons were the cost of travel, insufficient access to IT to complete their GCSEs in English and Maths, and general living costs. So, we designed a package of help to meet those needs and now we are ready to give your apprentices the boost that will get them through.

If you've been thinking about employing an apprentice, and were put off by the thought that you might be investing time and money in someone who might not complete the course, then now you have an ally – us. Together we can make a great team.

The VADO Rally was a great success and we raised a fabulous amount of money. Now we want to complete our half of the bargain and provide more help to the folks out there that need it.

If someone that you know is struggling, be it retired, full-time or part-time, then get them to call us on 0203 192 0486.