Photo shows Helen Thompson (far left), from the charity, receiving the cheque. Left to right the charity team are Linda Edwards, then Diane Jackson with Ben James on the right.
Record Breaking Fundraising at Smedley Hydro, Birkdale
Last January the 2016 Charity Team (Linda Edwards, Diane Jackson and Ben James) decided to aim to raise £10,400 as this would mean that the good people at Smedley would have raised over £100,000 since 1999.
The team arranged many and varied fundraising events including quiz and bingo nights, car boot sales, party nights, bake sales, bag packing, collections and a football match. Kind colleagues ran races and even climbed Ben Nevis on behalf of the charity.
They received so much support from the generous people at Smedley, as well as family and friends, that they exceeded their £10,400 target and a cheque for £13,725 has now been presented to the charity who were overwhelmed to receive such a large donation.
Helen Thompson, who is the Mersey Group co-ordinator, said “A special thank you for your inspirational and amazing hard work on behalf of the Crohn’s and Colitis UK Mersey Group. Words are not enough to explain how much this means and we will be able to reach out to so many people with across Merseyside.”
Smedley Hydro has a long history of raising money for local good causes. The charity they chose to support in 2016 was Crohn’s and Colitis UK (Mersey Group). Crohn’s and Colitis UK are fighting to achieve a better quality of life for almost 300,000 people in the UK suffering physically and emotionally due to Inflammatory Bowel Disease. They provide high quality information and personal care, support life-changing research and campaign vigorously. Ultimately, they want to find a cure.
In addition to fundraising the team wished to raise awareness of this incurable condition which many colleagues at Smedley cope with. They set up stalls and put up posters round the site providing more information about the condition and invited a member of the Mersey Group to deliver a presentation which has led to further planned health awareness sessions.
Linda, Diane and Ben had never fundraised on this scale before and had not appreciated how difficult it would be. However, Linda tells us “We have found that so many Crohn’s and Colitis sufferers have been glad to see us fundraising for this small charity and they have very much appreciated sharing their stories with us – inflammatory bowel disease is not something everyone is comfortable talking about other than to others who understand this hidden condition”.
Charity Team 2016’s record breaking efforts (as Smedley’s highest ever fundraisers) means that the total money raised by the generous people of Smedley Hydro since 1999 now stands at £102,850.
Very many thanks from myself, Linda and Ben.
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