Shropshire Star

Cash for Your Community: Groups share £20,000 cash giveaway

It was a time for celebration for good causes across Shropshire as £20,000 was handed out to 45 different charities and community groups in this year's Cash For Your Community Campaign.

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Groups ranging from the Telford First Responders, which provide first aid cover in emergencies, to Cricket for People with Disabilities, which brings the joys of sport to those who might not otherwise be able to enjoy it.

Our top three groups were presented with cheques for more than £2,000 each at a special ceremony held at Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow stadium, but there was still plenty of cash to go around to give the other organisations a much-needed boost.

This year's giveaway, organised in partnership with Enterprise Flex-E-Rent, saw more than 121,000 tokens being collected by the different groups taking part.

A total of 111 organisations had applied to take part in the scheme, and the winners came from a shortlist of 50.

Shropshire Star Cash For Your Community cheque presentation day at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

The charities and groups were then invited to collect tokens printed each day in the Shropshire Star, with the organisations collecting the most tokens getting the biggest share of the prize fund.

The scheme, which is in its second year, has been praised by Prime Minister David Cameron.

He said: "I think it is a fantastic initiative and everyone involved should be very proud of their efforts and hard work, which are both a credit to Shropshire."

Dean Barner, Wellington Cottage Care Trust and Danny Glynn

1.Wellington Cottage Care Trust came top for the second year running, scooping a superb £2,586.88. Chairman Bryan Benham said he was thrilled with the result. He said that the money would help with vital work at a time when funding was particularly tight. He said the money would help pay for improvements to facilities at the charity's base in Haygate Road, Wellington, including refurbished toilets and a new sluice room.

Mr Benham said, like many organisations, the charity had suffered from cuts in government funding.

"This makes an immense difference," he said.

"It allows us to provide treats for our patients. such as singers or entertainment."

He said the charity had installed collection boxes in various locations around the town, including a doctors' surgery and a bank.

"We also talked to people in a couple of churches who collected tokens for us," Mr Benham added.

Rachel Powell and Caroline Hurlstone

2. Rachel Powell and Caroline Hurlstone were delighted to receive £2,026.87 on behalf of the Shifnal-based Live At Home scheme, saying it would mean they could treat all the people who use the service.

Manager Rachel Powell said it would mean that all users of the service, which helps older people stay independent, will be invited free of charge to the annual fund day.

It would also be used to help promote the range of services available, as many people weren't aware of the help that was available.

"Sometimes people say to us 'my life wasn't worth living until I knew about this scheme', and if we can make more people aware of the service we offer that is more people we can help."

Caroline said the organisation, which is part of the Methodist Homes for the Aged charity, had a bank of dedicated volunteers who raised money for the charity.

But she said £2,000 was a huge amount which would be a massive boost to the coffers.

Shropshire Star circulation director Dean Barber, Randlay Colts JFC's Steven Meredith and Paul Chadderton, and Danny Glynn of Enterprise Flex-E-Rent

3. Randlay Colts Junior FC were thrilled to be at the top end of the table after scoring more than £2,000 in this year's scheme. The junior football club celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and team manager Steven Meredith said it was great to mark the milestone with a cash boost. Paul said: "It means we are able to buy new goals, nets and other equipment.

"We're an ever growing football club, so there's more need for it, and it means we can replace some of it as well as it becomes worn." He added that the club had lost its old storage base at the former Lakeside Academy, and had been forced to rent a unit which was a big drain on resources. The cash injection would help it find a store of its own.

Steven added that the club had launched a girls' team this year, so the funds would be very much appreciated.

He said the families of the children in the team, as well as a number of schools in the area had all helped collecting the tokens.

Severn Centre Trust manager Chris Reeves, director Roy Broome, and fundraiser Barbara Steele

4. The Severn Centre Trust is seeking to raise £120,000 to refurbish Highley's outdoor swimming pool, and manager Chris Reeves said the cheque for £872.70 would make a significant difference."It is going to go a long way because we can use it to generate match-funding," he said.

Chris said the pool had been in the village for approximately 47 years, and was in need of renovation. "The pool was built by miners, and it's quite a key part of what is a former mining village."

Trust director and vice-chairman of Highley Parish Council Roy Broome said the pool was originally built to discourage children from risking their lives by swimming in the river.

Chris said that there were around 3,500 people living in Highley, and fundraiser Barbara Steele had called on probably every house in the village gathering tokens. He said the whole village was right behind the scheme, and was hopeful that the work could begin within the next 12 to18 months.

The biggest winner, for the second year running, was Wellington Cottage Care Trust. The charity, which runs a nurse-led day centre for adults with disabilities, received £2,586.88 from the prize fund.

Chairman Bryan Benham said he was delighted with the money, which he said would improve the quality of life for the many people who used the service.

He said it would help pay for improvements to the charity's base in Haygate Road, but would also help it run a programme of activities.

In second place came the Methodist Homes for the Aged Live at Home scheme, which received £2,026.57. The Shifnal-based charity supports older people who live in their own homes.

Manager Rachel Powell said she was amazed the group had been given such a large sum.

"It's amazing, we're still shaking," she said.

Her assistant Caroline Hurlstone, who was also at the presentation, added that the sum was the equivalent of a year's rent on the premises it used.

Rachel said the money would allow the group to expand, and would allow it to hold a well-being day including specialist treatments for nails, hair and feet, as well as massage and one-to-one chats, music, lunch and exercise.

Wellington Cottage Care Trust £ 2,586.88

Live At Home £ 2,026.57

Randlay Colts JFC £ 2,001.37

Severn Centre Trust £ 872.70

Severn Hospice £ 841.17

The Harry Johnson Trust £ 810.90

Climbing Out £ 797.95

Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes £ 780.77

The Friendly Transport Service £ 733.47

Hope House Children's Hospices £ 609.72

Jigsaw Family Group £ 563.12

East Shropshire Talking Newspaper £ 505.69

Guilsfield Lunch Club £ 460.49

West Mercia Search and Rescue £ 443.32

Telford First Responders £ 439.80

Newport Cottage Care Centre Trust £ 424.03

Craven Arms Childcare & Pre-School £ 415.59

North Shrewsbury Friendly Neighbours £ 354.20

Perry Riding for the Disabled Association £ 347.31

Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution £ 327.74

First Shrewsbury Beavers and Cubs £ 318.31

North Salop Wheelers £ 296.91

Shrewsbury Juniors FC £ 246.23

Smile & Youth Group £ 212.30

Wrekin Special Swimming Club £ 185.83

Shrewsbury & Oswestry Crucial Crew £ 172.60

Headway Shropshire £ 170.49

Exotic Zoo Community Interest Company £ 160.77

Autism West Midlands £ 156.97

Dreamcatcher £ 149.37

The Green Oak Foundation CIC £ 146.55

Empathy for special children £ 137.68

Welshpool Community Transport £ 133.32

Cricket For People With Disabilities £ 133.18

Telford & District MS Society £ 123.04

Combat Stress £ 119.10

Macmillan Cancer Support £ 117.13

HMM Arts Ltd £ 108.68

Vision Homes Association £ 91.51

Wrekin Riders BMX Race Club £ 87.00

Home - Start Telford & Wrekin £ 81.51

Friends of Holmer Lake £ 79.26

christ church pre-school nursery £ 79.12

The Friendship society £ 76.73

Leavers Come First £ 73.62

Also putting in a top performance was third place Randlay Colts Junior Football Club, which received a cash boost of £2,001.37.

The Telford-based club is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and caters for more than 180 children from across the borough.

Team manager Steven Meredith said the funding would be used to pay for a storage area to keep its equipment.

He said it would guarantee the survival of the club, which had provided thousands of children with many happy memories.

He added: "The less-privileged and poor demographic areas would continue to have the benefit of a local junior football club for their children to enjoy a healthy active lifestyle."

The Severn Centre Trust, which is raising funds to renovate the open-air swimming pool at Highley, received £872.70, while Severn Hospice was given £841.17 to buy computer tablets which will enable clinicians to access patients' medical records during visits to their home.

Fundraising organiser Daniel Smith said four out of five of the charity's patients were cared for in their own homes, and having the tablets meant they would be able to spend more time with patients rather than having to drive back to the hospice after each visit.

The Harry Johnson Trust, which also took part in last year's campaign, received another £810.90.

The trust was formed by Sally and Steven Johnson following the death of their seven-year-old son Harry, who had been diagnosed with a rare type of childhood cancer in July 2014.

Sally, a former headteacher from Shrewsbury, said the money would make an enormous difference in helping local children through its projects.

"Unfortunately there are often new cases of childhood cancer being diagnosed in Shropshire and mid Wales, and we want to be able to support every single one of those children and teenagers throughout their treatment and care," she said.

Climbing Out, founded by paralympian canoeist Kelda Wood, received £797.95. The charity was set up to rebuild the confidence of young adults aged 16-30 age bracket who have suffered life changing illnesses or injuries by taking them in groups on 5-day outdoor activity programmes at places such as the Peak District, Lake District and north Wales.

Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes caused a stir during the campaign when some of its volunteers dropped in to deliver their tokens by motorcycle.

They were rewarded for their efforts with a cheque for £780.77, which will help pay for a secure bike sheds, making it easier and faster for volunteers to access a bike when they are called out on urgent business.

The Friendly Transport Service, which provides a vital transport service for people living in and around Broseley, Much Wenlock, Barrow and Cressage, received £733.47.

Manager Marie Monk-Hawksworth said the service, mostly run by volunteers, was essential for people who need to visit relatives, go shopping and make social visits, as well as outings and trips to lunch clubs.

"Our door-to-door service helps those who have difficulty getting out and about and using, or don't have access to, other transport," she said.

Hope House Children's Hospices, based in Morda near Oswestry, received £609.72.

The hospice provides vital practical and emotional support to terminally ill and life-limited children, young adults and their families.

Area fundraiser Lynsey Kilvert said it cost almost £6 million a year to maintain its services, but received just 17 per cent of its running costs from government bodies.

She said the money would be used for a variety of services, including respite care, nursing and support work for brothers and sisters. It will also help with neonatal care and social work, as well as counselling and bereavement support.

Towards the end of the campaign, a team of volunteers led by Shropshire Star circulation manager Andy Maxwell spent 42 hours painstakingly counting the tokens which had been collected by the different organisations.

Some of the groups set up collection points around the county, while others carried out door-to-door collections.

Social media was also a popular way of encouraging people to donate tokens.

Shropshire Star deputy editor Mark Drew said the paper was proud of its role at the heart of the community, and Cash For Your Community was an excellent example of how the newspaper could make a difference to the area it served.

"It has been heartwarming hearing about how these groups have worked so hard to collect their tokens, and it is wonderful to see them benefit from their hard work," he said.

"Many of the groups to have received money through Cash For Your Community are small local organisations run purely on the back of hard work by people who want to give something to the area they live or work in.

"They will use the money they have been given today to make such a difference to our area, and it is a pleasure to be able to support them in this way."

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