I had met Jane Wells, the secretary of the Spring Charity Fundraisers at several functions, and over the years at Newbury in Bloom prizegivings, as she is a keen gardner. She recently told me about this charity, which I hadn't heard of, so I was pleased to attend their AGM last night at the Bacon Arms.
The charity is only a couple of years old officially, but the committee have been fundraising since 1999. They were a group of friends that decided to hold a ball to raise money for local disabled children. I think they are unusual because they had no disabled children themselves, and set about this for (almost) totally altruistic reasons. I say almost, because they clearly know how to enjoy themselves and obviously like parties! To date they are on their way to having raised £50,000, which is a wonderful achievement.
The other lovely thing about their charity is that they give only to local people, and I happen to know several of them, being the governor with special responsibility for the Keevil unit at Speenhamland School, where a number of disabled children attend. This makes their achievements very tangible. They have given lightweight wheelchairs, non-slip flooring, hoists, specialist computers for severe dyslexia, and special sports wheelchairs for the Vikings, the local disabled basketball team. Their next target is to raise £4,500 to pay for a special bath to help a severely disabled teenager and his family.
Their next ball will be at the Racecourse on Saturday 17 March, and I hope to be there to support them. I will be encouraging others to go along too, as they need to sell over 250 tickets to make a profit. If you are reading this and want to go, call Jane Wells on 01635 33826.
No comments:
Post a Comment