Charity Voting Now Open 2023-2024
Thank you to those members who nominated a charity for the Club to support in the next 12 months. We now have a shortlist to choose and vote from which can be found below. Voting is now open and the two charities with the two most votes at the end of the voting period will be the ones selected for 2023-2024.
All adult members get two votes each, must be for two different charities, cannot be for the same charity.
Please send your votes through to [email protected] by midnight on the 7th August.
Above and Beyond Cancer Foundation
Above and Beyond Cancer Foundation is a small charity operating from Biggleswade that supports those fighting cancer in Bedfordshire. Two ladies, Karen and Jayne, started the charity after both were diagnosed with breast cancer. They found it helpful to talk with others who had gone through cancer and share a passion in helping those with cancer regain a sense of control and hope. They believe that people are best helped one-to-one and provide a listening ear, can point people to helpful resources, and give emotional support to equip those diagnosed with cancer for their challenges ahead.
Bedford and District Cerebral Palsy Society
BDCPS is a small charity based in Bedfordshire, which for nearly 70 years has supported people with complex disabilities and their families.
At BDCPS they focus on ability rather than disability. They are passionate about providing a ‘greenhouse’ where young people are able to grow, aspire, dream and achieve greater things. They go above just meeting the basic needs and provide extraordinary activities and adventures for extraordinary young people.
Their families trust them to provide safe activities that will enable their young person to bloom. BDCPS also extend the greenhouse to include the whole family and provide much needed support for parent carers and siblings, including wellbeing activities, emotional and practical support and sibling adventures.
Website.
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.
Carers in Bedfordshire
Carers in Bedfordshire are there to help unpaid carers of all ages, right across Bedfordshire, with information, support and advice. Their mission is to give carers access to the support, information and skills that enhance their wellbeing and enables them to remain in a caring role for as long as they choose.
FACES
FACES (Family and Children’s Early-help Services) is a well-established, local and independent charity offering practical and emotional support to families under stress. They support local children and families faced with difficult issues such as mental and physical health, domestic abuse, poverty, child sexual exploitation and behavioural issues via a range of quality-tested services and family support groups, many led by a team of dedicated volunteers. They do this by recruiting and training volunteers who work alongside their Practitioners in delivering a unique menu of tailored services directly to a family, in their own home.
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.
Living It Up
Living It Up provides social and educational opportunities for adults with learning disabilities and autism in and around Bedfordshire. Living It Up now has 5 services currently for adults with learning disabilities and or autism: Living It Up Events service (holding bi-monthly discos), a Performing Arts Centre (providing daytime sessions four days a week), Gr8 Mates (for people looking for a friend or partner), Gig Buddies (a befriending service which provides trained volunteers to support participants to go out socially) and they also run a wheelchair accessible Community Centre.
Making Me
Making Me’s vision is to teach children to thrive by equipping them with the skills and understanding to proactively navigate their mental and emotional journey into adulthood. What underpins their vision is the concept that ‘knowledge is power’.
They provide workshops and resources in a subsidised Primary School Emotional Wellbeing Programme which provide a platform of learning whereby youngsters can build resilience, understand and communicate their emotions, embrace their mental wellbeing and make informed choices about the person they want to become.
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.
Re-homing Animal Telephone Service (R.A.T.S.)
The Re-homing Animal Telephone Service (RATS) is a small, completely self-funded, animal rehoming charity based in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
They provide love, care and protection for unwanted and abandoned dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, and with their ‘opt to adopt’ philosophy, they look for committed, loving “furever” homes for abandoned animals. Their aim is to give their animals a second chance of happiness.
Samsons Academy
Samsons Academy is a support network and base for training and self-growth. They are a community focused organisation working in partnership with professionals and other local agencies to support young adults and some older adults who are living with mental health impairment and illness. The Academy is also an Amateur Boxing Club affiliated to England Boxing. Using the ethos of combat sports, they help to improve the lives of those that might be socially excluded. They offer a welcoming and inclusive environment for all the community to learn boxing, regardless of ability, as well as Muay Thai, Yoga, Pilates, Boxercise, K1, Kick Boxing and other combat sports.
St John’s School
St John’s School and College in Bedford is part of Bedford Inclusive and Training Learning Trust. It caters for pupils who have severe and complex learning difficulties, from Early Years through to post-16. The school supports pupils by ensuring that they study a broad and balanced curriculum and they ensure that students are safe, happy respectful, motivated and are equipped with the key skills to enable them to lead a fulfilling life. The facilities at the school include a hydrotherapy pool, an interactive sound and light room, dedicated ICT facilities, nature garden, rumpus room and a food technology room.
The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama
The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama was founded in 1921 and provides a showcase for the wealth of talent in the amateur performing arts in Bedfordshire and the surrounding area. The Festival offers a wide range of classes for all ages covering most musical genres including Classical, Musical Theatre, Jazz and Asian music, as well as many varied Speech and Drama classes including Verse Speaking, Acting, Mime and Improvisation. It features categories for school groups, Special School groups, orchestras, wind bands, junior and senior choirs and group creative performance.
Run by a Committee of volunteers and a part-time Secretary, the Festival is a charity and takes place at the Bedford Corn Exchange in March every year.
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.
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