Club Towers Members raise over £7,000 for Local Charities
Every year, our members nominate two local charities for us to support and we are delighted to announce that we have just handed over £7,384.14 through the generosity of our members, our staff and the Club. The charities chosen in 2019 were CHUMS and Bedfordshire Sands and the funds have been split equally between the two.
Normally charities remain in place for one year but due to Covid-19 and the time the Club was closed we kept the same charities for another year, with our last fundraising event for them taking place in July. In order to reach this total, we organised several events throughout the year including coffee mornings, a spinathon, and a Christmas raffle. We are so pleased to have raised so much for two very worthwhile charities.
Bedfordshire Sands is a volunteer-led Group that works to promote Sands’ vision in our local area. They provide direct peer support to bereaved parents, working with local healthcare professionals and raise awareness about stillbirths and neo-natal death.
Fiona and Paolo visited the Club to be presented with their cheque, pictured below. Fiona shared sentiments from the volunteer committee “All of us at Bedfordshire Sands are overwhelmed by the commitment that Club Towers have shown in fundraising for us through this especially difficult period. Your kind donations will help continue to provide free bereavement support to families in Bedfordshire, improve the facilities and level of care at the Bedford and the Luton and Dunstable hospital bereavement suites and maintain the Memorial Garden at the Bedford crematorium. Your generous donation will make a real difference to the bereaved families we support and for that we are truly grateful.”
CHUMS provides mental health and emotional wellbeing support for children, young people and their families with other services, specifically supporting adults, including a bereavement and suicide bereavement service.
Sue Clarke, Head of Fundraising and Communications, thanked our members: “We are so thankful for the support that all of the Club Towers members and staff have shown to CHUMS Charity over the course of the last 2 years. When we went into lockdown 16 months ago our community, corporate and events income fell off a cliff and we were struggling to make contact with supporters as offices and venues closed down. The fantastic sum that you raised will support 18 one to one trauma sessions for local children and young people who have been traumatised as a result of a traumatic bereavement, sexual abuse, witness to domestic violence or any other trauma in their young lives. Our specialist, evidence-based therapies make a long-lasting difference to those who we support, so that they can go on to reach their full potential. As well as receiving a significant increase in referrals through this period, we have also found that the trauma referrals have been a lot more complex due to the effect that the restrictions have had on people’s mental health, so thank you once again for enabling us to make a real lasting difference to the future of these children and young people.”
Sue also visited us at the Club to hear the total amount raised and be presented with a cheque from General Manager Steve Davies, pictured above.
Steve said “It’s been a tough time for all, and charities have been hit hard, so to be able to raise so much is testament to the community spirit we have here at the Club. We would like to reiterate what both charities have said and wholeheartedly thank members and staff for their generous support in organising, attending or donating at any of the events across the two years.”
Voting is now open for the two charities we will support from 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022. The shortlist and details of how to vote can be found here – www.clubtowers.com/charity
