Six donations, six great causes
We’re delighted to announce the recipients of our latest round of ‘Charity of the Month’ donations, in the first of a two-part blog series.
As you may know, we usually encourage our members to vote for a winner from three nominated charities every month, using tokens they receive from our counter when visiting the branch. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in spring 2020, our own team have been casting their votes on your behalf instead, to minimise the risk of coronavirus infection from handling items unnecessarily.
We’ve just selected six more local good causes, one for each of the first six months of 2021, in reflection of our ongoing commitment to building better futures by supporting our customers, and our wider community, however we can.
Once again, it was really hard to choose from the dozens put forward, which all do such great work for our community. However, our team thought the following were particularly special this time, and so we’re donating £250 each to:
Special Olympics City of Hull Swimming Club
Special Olympics City of Hull operates under the umbrella of Special Olympics GB, and provides sports training and competition opportunities to people with an intellectual disability. The club is responsible for raising funds for its own running costs, including Special Olympics GB membership, competition entry fees, team kit, transport to events and, in some cases, overnight accommodation. It encourages members to contribute to their training costs on a voluntary basis, but never turns anyone away because they can’t afford to pay.
The club encourages its members to take part in swimming competitions and provides them with all the support they need – from its own Beverley-based events, to regional and national finals, which can lead to the most talented being selected for international competition.
As well as enhancing their swimming abilities, however, the club enhances members’ life skills no matter what their sporting capability, including sportsmanship, their ability to work as part of a team, positive behavior, commitment, determination and self-discipline.
Members are looking forward to the competition circuit opening up again after the disruption caused by COVID, and the Society’s contribution will go towards their preparations, including new kit for younger members who’ve had growth spurts during successive lockdowns!
Volunteer Janet Nolan said: “A big thank you to Beverley Building Society and its members for this donation, as such support always gives a boost to the volunteers who offer their time to provide training and support our swimmers at events. It is an acknowledgement that others value the contribution they are making to the lives of these swimmers and is greatly appreciated.
“It’s a real privilege to see each swimmer blossom, from their first tentative sessions through all the highs and lows that follow. Eventually, a ‘can do’ attitude emerges with the support and encouragement of the other swimmers. The delight they experience whenever someone develops a new skill is worth all the effort.”
You can discover more about Special Olympics City of Hull via their website.
Jacob’s Well Appeal
Jacob’s Well Appeal is a Beverley-based charity that sends medical, educational, agricultural and disaster relief to the poorest people in the world.
It’s fantastic work began in 1982 when Dr Beryl Beynon, a Beverley GP, started sending medical and colostomy aid to Poland. Gradually, her work then expanded into Eastern Europe, where the charity was eventually able to build a rehabilitation centre and housing for disabled children in Romania who were abandoned to state care during the Ceauşescu regime.
From this, Beryl’s vision expanded as the need for aid grew, and the charity has worked in Moldova, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Kenya, Somaliland, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Syria and, most recently, the Yemen, Malawi and Congo Brazzaville; as well as sending ad hoc help during humanitarian crises and disasters in many other parts of the world.
Bridget Conroy, Office Manager for the charity, explained how the Society’s donation will be used.
“It will help pay for a shipping container we are sending to Malawi in East Africa; and we also hope to help the refugees coming into Hull from Afghanistan,” she said.
“This container will cost us roughly £10,000 to fill with medical supplies which are desperately needed, including hospital beds and personal protective equipment (PPE), and then ship it there.
“We’ve been doing this for over 38 years now and it’s fantastic that another Beverley-based enterprise is getting involved in supporting us in our mission.
“The Society and its members really are saving lives with this donation, and we are so grateful.“
You can discover more about the Jacob’s Well Appeal here.
Dove House Hospice Child Bereavement Group
The care provided by the hugely well-regarded Dove House Hospice, based in east Hull, includes looking after both patients and their families and loved ones as they navigate their way through terminal illness and bereavement. For anyone, bereavement is a sad and difficult time, but for children it can also be even more bewildering and frightening.
That’s why Dove House, which is largely self-funded and relies heavily on donations and fundraising, has qualified and experienced child bereavement co-ordinators to help children find their own ways of expressing how they are feeling, and begin to move forward positively with their lives.
Dan Clipson, Regional Fundraiser for the hospice, said: “Over the past 18 months, we’ve faced a great number of clinical challenges and obstacles in raising funds to continue providing our vital care as a result of the pandemic.
“Many of our community events and appeals are slowly beginning to return, and such support and donations are of great importance as they allow us to continue providing our care to local families completely free of charge. Thank you to all at Beverley Building Society for your kindness.”
You can discover more about the Dove House Hospice via its website.
As a building society, supporting the communities in which we live and work is what we were originally set up to do, and therefore we’re always delighted to be able to do our bit to help fantastic, good causes like the ones chosen by our team this time.
Many of those picked are very close to the hearts of our members of staff and our members for a raft of different reasons, and I’m sure they’ll be pleased to know exactly how the charities plan to use the funds to make a real difference to 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.