Open for Business - Some charity request your help this christmastime

OPEN for Business

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Bridgwater Cricket Club in Somerset provides organised cricket for disabled players has been handed a major boost thanks to a leading housebuilder. A £1,000 grant from Persimmon Homes Severn Valley as part of its Community Champions scheme was gifted to continue the clubs good work.

Families in Need

YHA Festive Raffl e

Purple Elephant were a non-profi t CIC, supporting Frome and area families, however they can now announce their new charity status and name will be Purple Elephant Family Support. With Christmas, for many children, meaning a cold house and certainly no endless tables of overfl owing, hearty or hot food, the directors of this newly-confi rmed charity are facing the media-made sparkling picture with a head-on reality check by launching their fi rst Families-in-Need Christmas public donation Campaign. Founded in 2015, Purple Elephant’s tiny but dedicated team already run an ultra low-cost Toy Library, Stay-and-Play pre-school sessions, the Small Steps Parenting Support Service, an adult-to-child Befriending Service, projects to support the mental health of young people, school Holiday Activities for children in challenging circumstances and, of course, the famous annual free summer Frome Children’s Festival, open to everyone! With families facing a very tough winter ahead, Purple Elephant Family Support needs your support, please, in donating to their Localgiving Families-in-Need Christmas campaign. To ensure they work in partnership with other local organisations to help share support as far as they can, they are asking local people as well as local businesses to please help by donating even a small amount. £10 pays for a hot meal for two children in a cold winter; £20 allows families to stay longer, together in the warm, after a Purple Elephant event. Alternatively, a regular donation of just £5 per month allows these lovely purple people to plan more services, into the future, with confi dence. Contact Sue Willis on suewillis@ purpleelephant.org. uk to discuss all the options to help families-in-need this Christmas.

Aleading youth charity is appealing to people to part with a pound to make a diff erence to the lives of local young people who need it the most. Proceeds from the 2022 YHA’s Christmas Raffl e, has a fi rst prize of £3000, which will go towards ensuring that no child misses out on the transformative power of a residential school trip. With the cost of living rising, more and more families and schools are being forced to cancel school trips away. For many children, particularly those from lowincome families, that means they miss out on the chance for their fi rst night away from home to bond with their peers and make lasting memories. Raffl e tickets cost just £1.00 each and, as well as the fi rst prize is £3,000, there are also a number of runner-up cash and voucher prizes available. Th e raffl e closes on Friday 9 December with all winners receiving their cash and prizes in time for Christmas. Previous raffl es by YHA (England & Wales) have successfully fundraised to provide life-changing adventures and crucial breaks for 1,800 vulnerable young people and NHS and frontline workers and their families, as well as respite breaks for young carers and the installation of life-saving defi brillators in youth hostels. For tickers pleasevist: getinvolved.yha.org.uk/fundraising/raffle