£1,500 for outstanding local charities
We’re delighted to announce the recipients of our latest round of ‘Charity of the Month’ donations, in the second of a two-part blog series. You can find the first blog to this series here.
As we have already mentioned, each month we would usually invite our members to vote for a winner from three nominated organisations, using tokens they receive from our counter when they visit the branch. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring 2020, our own staff have been voting on your behalf to reduce the danger of coronavirus infection by unnecessarily handling the tokens.
We’ve just chosen six more local good causes, one for each of the first six months of 2021, as part of our continued commitment to helping our customers and the wider community build better futures in any way we can.
It was once again incredibly difficult to choose among the dozens of charities that all do outstanding work in our community. However, our team thought the following organisations were particularly noteworthy this time, so we’re donating £250 to each of them:
Beverley Cherry Tree Community Centre
Beverley Cherry Tree Community Centre offers a variety of services for Beverley and the surrounding area, include community groups, food for families, free advice, a credit union and the Little Gruffalo’s Pre-school.
Having been launched initially by the local Children’s Society to provide services specifically for disadvantaged children in the area, the organisation has steadily evolved to become an integral part of the community.
Centre Manager, Jo Ramsay, explained how the donation will be put to good use.
“The money will go towards the community pantry we run,” she said. “We have 150 people using the pantry, who pay £4 weekly to receive free fruit, vegetables and bread.
“We are now offering recipe bags, containing all the ingredients people need to make a meal for themselves and their families. We would love to use the money from the Society to help fund those.
“We’d like to thank the Society for this support, which will make such a difference to our community.”
You can discover more about the Cherry Tree Centre via its website.
Duchenne UK
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive and ultimately life-threatening genetic condition diagnosed in childhood, which affects boys and causes all the muscles in sufferers’ bodies to gradually weaken.
There is currently no cure for Duchenne, but there is hope. Duchenne UK is at the forefront of research and campaigning to advance treatments and care for everyone affected by the disease.
Duchenne UK was founded in 2012 by two mothers whose sons were diagnosed with DMD. The charity takes an innovative and sharply-focused approach to fighting DMD from every angle. This involves three key areas of work: funding ground-breaking medical research, accelerating access to treatments, and ensuring everyone in the DMD community is given the care and support they need.
“We are delighted to hear that Duchenne UK was nominated for a £250 donation by the Beverley Building Society team,” said Dala Jenkin, Fundraising Manager.
“With your donation, you are joining the fight against DMD, a devastating disease which is the biggest genetic killer of boys. It will contribute towards funding vital medical research and accelerating the development of effective treatments, helping young people with DMD live longer, more independent lives.”
You can read more about Duchenne’s work in its 2020 Impact Report.
Beverley Riding for the Disabled
Beverley Riding for the Disabled is a non-profit organisation and a registered charity that provides weekly horse-riding sessions for people with disabilities.
The charity has group coaches and volunteers who help adults with physical and/or learning difficulties to ride for therapy, achievement and fun. They also encourage participation in leading the horse and grooming the horse for those who are developing confidence and enjoy these activities.
We spoke to the Chairman of RDA and retired seafarer, Vic Groundwater, who told us more about their wonderful work:
“What we do at the charity is truly so rewarding. We work with people who have a range of disabilities and it’s amazing what a positive impact the horses have on each of them.
“Seeing the faces of the riders makes it all worthwhile and reminds you why you do it.
“We began the charity three years ago from scratch. I previously knew Shirley, who is now the group coach, she obviously has a background in horses, and I’ve always had an interest in them myself. It certainly wasn’t easy finding donations to get it started, but we had a vision of how brilliant it could become, and it did.”
He explained: “Without vital donations, we simply can’t function. COVID hit us really hard since we weren’t able to fundraise, so we are really grateful for contributions such as this.
“The money will go towards funding the vital first aid training for our volunteers that we cannot operate without. We would like to say a huge thank you for Beverley Buidling Society’s donation, you really are helping us change lives.”
If you are interested in becoming a much-needed volunteer for Beverley RDA, or would like to find out more information about what they do, please get in touch with Shirley Hart via 07714 978767, or email thorndykefarm70@gmail.com.
As a building society, we were founded to aid the communities in which we live and work, so we’re always thrilled to be able to contribute to excellent, worthwhile causes like the ones selected by our team this time.
Many of the charities chosen are dear to the hearts of our employees and members for a variety of reasons, and we’re sure they’ll be delighted to learn how the donations will be used to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
If you would like to nominate a charity which does exceptional work for the people of East Yorkshire and beyond, please write to us at info@beverleybs.co.uk with details of the charity and why you would like to see them benefit. Or, you can hand a letter containing all the details to our branch team.