Charity Voting for 2024-2025 Now Open
Thank you to all members who nominated a charity in the last few weeks. We are always in admiration of how many charities we have in Bedford and how many people are doing such wonderful things to support others in our community.
We are pleased to now share this year’s shortlist; please see below in alphabetical order. Voting opens on the 2nd August and will close at midnight on the 5th September and the two charities with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be the ones selected for our support in 2024-2025: this will be announced in mid-September. All adult members get up to two votes each, and these must be cast for two different charities. You cannot vote for the same charity twice.
Members – please send your votes through to [email protected] by midnight on the 5th September.
Bedford Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation is the charitable arm of Bedford Blues Rugby Club. Working across Bedfordshire and neighbouring areas, their mission is to inspire our community through the values of rugby to promote positive and informed lifestyle choices. The Foundation promotes community participation in healthy recreation by providing facilities for playing sport and physical activity. It also provides opportunities for education, sport, recreation or other leisure time activities for disadvantaged or vulnerable people across the community.
Bedford Foodbank
Bedford Foodbank’s volunteers work with referral partners to provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in our community.
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Emergency Critical Care Scheme
Beds & Herts Emergency Critical Care Scheme (BHECCS) volunteer clinicians are on-call, in their free time, to provide advanced medical and trauma care to (the most seriously ill and injured) patients in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and support the local NHS ambulance service. All their clinicians have extensive clinical experience, usually work for the NHS in a specialist role, and have additional training and education to provide an extra level of care, above what is normally available on road ambulances. BHECCS is a charitable organisation and they rely on the support of local people and business to provide this free, life-saving service.
Beyond Detention
Beyond Detention (formerly Yarl’s Wood Befrienders) provides emotional and practical support to people detained in Yarl’s Wood IRC and post-detention, in the community. Their mission is to use emotional and practical support to empower, restore dignity and improve the wellbeing of people in immigration detention and after their release.
Cats Protection Bedford Branch
The team support cats and kittens in Bedford & Biggleswade, covering postcodes: MK40, MK41, MK42, MK43, MK44, MK45, SG15, SG16, SG17, SG18 & SG19.
Run by a small team of dedicated, cat-loving volunteers, they are passionate about improving the lives of cats and kittens in Bedford & Biggleswade, working to find loving new homes for local cats in their care, and lost and found cats, as well as general education and awareness within the Bedford & Biggleswade area. Their vision is a society where every cat has their best possible life because they are protected, cared for and understood by everyone.
Chellington Centre Charity
The Chellington Centre is a residential & day use centre for groups of young people to engage in their own programmes of education and development providing many opportunities to build self-confidence & celebrate life. Chellington is a place of expedition, contemplation, inspiration and invigoration, particularly but not exclusively for young people – a place of transformation.
The charity has developed relationships with various charities, churches, youth groups and schools for the provision of outside the classroom activities and residential experiences.
Country Days
Country Days is an educational charity providing outdoor learning in a beautiful nature reserve for primary school children in years 3 -6 who live in Bedfordshire. Research has proven that there are innumerable benefits of spending time outdoors. Country Days gives children in Bedfordshire the opportunity to explore the wonders of nature, reconnect with the wild and discover the world around them — it’s time to find out what we can learn from a worm!
Deaf Access Bedford
As a deaf-led charity, they are proud to work with the D/deaf and hard of hearing community to make Bedford more accessible, to break down barriers and reduce isolation. They aim to raise public awareness of the issues affecting deaf people. They campaign for the promotion of British Sign Language to be on an equal footing to spoken and written English and they provide recreational facilities and opportunities for deaf people to integrate with the hearing community.
Embrace (formerly Bedford and District Cerebral Palsy Society)
Embrace are a small charity based in Bedford(shire), who have been established since 1954 making this their 70th year supporting local families. Their mission is to provide unwavering support to families living with disabilities, sharing their knowledge and understanding to empower each individual they encounter along their unique journey. They offer support for the whole family from helping parent carers find a voice at meetings; offering advice and assistance and helping at home in times of need, to a vast array of parent-carer wellbeing sessions, family sessions and activities for children and young people all the way from babies to adults. Embrace offers something for everyone in the family, so that all feel included and supported.
Friends for Life
Friends for Life is a charity, working to address the social isolation of residents within Bedford Borough care homes. They recognise the negative impact loneliness can have on a person’s wellbeing and work to address this by recruiting volunteers to become personal befrienders, offering friendship and company to care home residents who have few or no external visitors.Founded in 2007, they have grown from a small local initiative to a charity with around 70 volunteers, supporting 30 care homes primarily in Bedford Borough.
Fun 4 Young People
This Charity (established in 2015 by Ann Hadfield) focuses on helping and supporting children in the local community from Year 1 up to Year 11 by overcoming barriers they may be facing in their lives through the delivery of after-school and holiday programmes. Whether they are experiencing bullying, isolation or struggling socially, Fun 4 Young People aims to provide the help to promote positive wellbeing, communication and relationship building.
Headway Bedford
Originally founded in 1984 as a brain injury support group, Headway Bedford set up its first service centre and base in 1990. They provide an holistic, client-centred approach to the consequences of brain injury through cognitive, physical, social and emotional re-learning and rehabilitation services.
Their mission is to improve the lives of people who acquired a brain injury by providing excellent services which promote independence and well-being through enabling their clients to establish and achieve their personal aims and objectives. They have their own dedicated premises at the Bedford Health Village, in Bedford Town Centre.
Mind BLMK
Mind BLMK works across our communities to support positive mental health and wellbeing. Working closely with a range of partners, they offer a number of activities from wellbeing centres and local venues to make a difference to the mental health and wellbeing of people in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes. Their aim is to make sure that no-one has to face a mental health problem alone.
Primrose Car Service Bedford
The Primrose Car Service provides award winning transport to cancer patients in Bedfordshire travelling to Addenbrookes hospital for their radiotherapy treatment. This unique service, believed to be one-of-a-kind in the UK, operates five days of every week, with a team of 25 volunteer drivers.
Project 229
Project 229 is a pro-active community centre in Kempston for ages 0 to 99 and beyond with a “whole family” approach. Project 229, alongside partner organisations, provides opportunities through which people are empowered to counter isolation, build relationships, develop life-skills, be supported/support others, improve resilience, grow in self-esteem and make positive changes.
Road Victims Trust
Each year about 1,750 people die as a result of road collisions on the UK’s roads. This represents an enormous loss. Each person killed or injured will be someone’s parent, partner, child, a favourite relative or best friend. The need to provide effective, personal support to those affected by death or life changing injuries resulting from road collisions is a significant issue. There are formal legal processes following a serious road collision that involve the Police, Coroner, Crown Prosecution Service and personal injury lawyers. However, the work to complete these legal processes does not include the provision of specialist emotional and practical support that is so often needed by victims following the collision. Victims include bereaved individuals and families, those that were involved in the collision or who witnessed it.
The Road Victims Trust seeks to fill the gap by providing support for the bereaved and people otherwise affected by road death or life changing injuries, who are resident in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Their Bedfordshire office is based in Kempston.
Samaritans Bedford
Every 10 seconds, Samaritans responds to a call for help. They are available day or night, for anyone who’s struggling to cope, who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure and they aren’t only for the moment of crisis; they are also taking action to prevent the crisis. They give people ways to cope and the skills to be there for others. And they encourage, promote and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives. Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy, and the Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide. The Bedford Branch is on Bromham Road in Bedford and the funds, if chosen, would go to this branch.
Sight Concern Bedfordshire
Sight Concern Bedfordshire is a local, independent charity with offices in Luton and Bedford. It was founded in 1999 by the amalgamation of three charities: Enterprises by the Blind, Sight Concern (North Bedfordshire) and The South Bedfordshire Society for the Welfare of the Blind, who had provided services for over 70 years prior to the amalgamation. The charity works with visually impaired people, their families and carers throughout Bedfordshire and Luton to provide services to enable them to live full, active and independent lives.
Wooden Spoon Bedfordshire
Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby, and they transform the lives of disadvantaged and disabled children and young people across the UK and Ireland through the power of rugby. From sensory rooms, specialist playgrounds and sports activity areas to respite, medical and community care, they fund around 70 projects each year that support disadvantaged and disabled children. Since their founding in 1983, they’ve distributed in excess of £24 million, helping over 1 million young people.
Young Lives Versus Cancer (East Anglia and Bedfordshire)
At Young Lives vs Cancer, they help children and young people (under 25) and their families find the strength to face everything cancer throws at them. Cancer affects families in different ways so the charity works hard to provide support that’s easy to access and meets individual needs. This includes day-to-day support, helping get financial support, homes near hospitals and bereavement support. If selected the charity’s social care team based in Addenbrookes will support families in Bedfordshire with the funds raised.
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