Charity round-up

Our charity pages are an opportunity to highlight the good work local charities are undertaking, promote fundraising success and future events.

Chester Business Club presents cheques to charities

Following its successful Charity Ball in October 2021, Chester Business Club has presented cheques to the two principal charitable beneficiaries. Representatives from the Hospice of the Good Shepherd and the Brainwave Children’s Charity each received £8000 at a presentation ceremony held at Rowton Hall Hotel.

The Ball was held at the Pavilion, Chester Racecourse, and the event attracted a sell-out attendance of over 300 guests. CBC Ball chairman Abi Smith: “It was great, following the Covid lockdown, to welcome an enthusiastic crowd of partygoers for an evening of fun and entertainment, and especially in support of two such worthy charities. The Club is indebted to our headline sponsors RB Surveyor Services for their generous financial support.”

Other sponsors included Connectus Business Solutions, Storrar Cowdry Solicitors, Living Floors Ltd, Excello Law, EMS Event Co, Matthews of Chester, Eclipse Marketing, Wildo Print Co and White Fox Wines.

Boodles kindly sponsored the Drinks Reception, and Clogau Gold donated a splendid pendant for the Prize Draw.

Save the date: Farndon Soapbox Derby – 18 September 2022

The Farndon Soapbox Derby is the first event of its kind to be held in the village and is being organised by a dedicated group of local residents and business owners who are on a mission to bring fun and celebration to the community, whilst raising some much-needed funds for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd. As well as raising money for this local charity, 10% of what is raised will be pumped back into the area to support worthy local initiatives. Applications to enter a Kart team of four people to race through the streets of Farndon are open now. The event can accommodate up to 35 teams and 10 teams are already signed up. Karts can be themed, designed and decorated, and there will be a special prize for the team that raises the most money in sponsorship!

Local businesses are being encouraged to get involved and support the event too especially as it is expected to generate huge media publicity. Also, with up to 5,000 people expected to attend the event, it is a golden opportunity to really be seen. Generous sponsorship and advertising packages are available. To find out more or enter a team, visit www.farndonsoapboxderby.co.uk

Recent funding enables local library to go green

Gresford and District Community Library has successfully secured almost £25,000 funding to enable it to commence its ‘Library Carbon-Reduction Project’. £10,000 has been received from National Lottery, while a further £24,740 has been gifted from Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme. This money will enable the library to carry out a lot of work around insulation and replacing its ancient, gasguzzling boiler. The end result should be a greener library, which will also have a positive impact on the day-to-day running costs, reducing its energy bills.

Gresford and District Community Library (GDCL) is a community facility which serves the villages of Gresford, Marford and Rossett, and the surrounding areas. It has achieved charitable status and is a volunteer-run community library with important links to Wrexham's overall library service.

To visit the website or Facebook, search for Gresford and District Community Library

Charity celebrates significant milestone

Home-Start Wrexham celebrated its 30th Birthday with a sponsored walk and raised over £2k, with the final total still to be confirmed.

Home-Start is a family support charity rooted in the Wrexham community. Volunteers are trained and supported to offer families the help they need to provide their children with the very best start in life. In Wrexham services offered include weekly one-to-one family support, parenting programmes and courses, tenancy support, preschool family group and an annual family camping trip.

Pam Hoyle, Director explained: “Unfortunately getting people together to have a big party wasn’t the responsible option this year. Instead, we opted to have an outdoor walk. One of those volunteers on the sponsored walk was Ann, she has been a volunteer for 30 years in January.

“A huge thank you to all of our brave walkers who stuck at it, blistered and soaked through, to raise such a fantastic amount for our organisation, to enable it to carry on supporting local families when they need us the most.”

If you would like to know more about Home-Start contact its friendly team for a chat on 01978 366660 or email homestartwrexham@gmail.com

Halloween Spooktacular raises over £1000

Paul Pemberton recently held a ‘Halloween Spooktacular’ to raise over £1,000 for Dynamic. This local charity, based at Bradbury House, Salisbury Road, Wrexham, provides out of school activities for children and young people with disabilities.

The Halloween Spooktacular was held at the Hafod Club in Rhos, and families were invited to wear their best spooky outfits and enjoy a night of live music, entertainment and fun. Prizes were given to the best dressed and best carved pumpkins too. When asked why Paul had decided to organise this event, he said: “I feel the work Dynamic does is underestimated. I have a nephew who attends, and our family is so grateful. This is my way of saying thank you”.

Marie Gibson, Liaison Officer at Dynamic said: “We can’t thank Paul enough for organising this event and raising such a fantastic amount. It’s been such a difficult time for so many local charities and gestures like this really do mean a lot to us. Whilst we do receive some funding to deliver services, we need to raise an additional 50% to deliver all our services. This money will be put to good use and help us to carry on our vital work supporting local children and young people with disabilities”.

For more information please contact Marie Gibson, Liaison Officer at Dynamic on 01978 263656

Call for governors

Governors for Schools, the education charity, is calling on employers across Chester to support their staff to become school governors. School governors set the strategic direction of the school, working with school leadership and the board to challenge, support and monitor progress.

Schools need people with a variety of expertise to sit on the board and you don’t have to be a parent or have worked in education. It’s a fantastic way to develop skills, gain leadership experience and most importantly, help to provide an excellent education for every child in Chester.

There’s lots of training and support, and by working with employers, Governors for Schools is able to recruit talented and committed volunteers who can have a real impact.

If you are looking for a skilled-volunteering opportunity to support your people with, or your focus is social responsibility and you’re looking to engage with schools, please contact Senior Partnerships Manager, Emma Harris, at emma.harris@governorsforschools.org.uk and she’d be pleased to discuss a school governor initiative with you.