GWC

Charity

Our Chosen Charity

Hi all,

Just to keep you up to speed reference our chosen charity, which we intend to support for the next 3 years.

I would like to thank those of you who gave me information about charities they were involved in of were aware of for various reasons.

Choosing a charity is a very difficult task as all registered charities are crying out for additional help and funding and can certainly pull at your heart strings, but with much deliberation amongst the Committee and members of the Chapter, it has been decided the Great Western Chapter will sponsor Radio Lollipop which is based in the Bristol Children's Hospital. A charity which focuses on making childrens' stay in hospital as pleasant as possible be it a few days or in some cases a few months.

The Children's Hospital in Bristol treats children from the whole of the South West including South Wales, to give you an idea 16,500 children from South Wales were treated last year alone. The fact that our chapter has a strong Welsh contingency, we thought it was a great way of helping children from Bristol and South Wales under one roof. So the money we raise will benefit all the children which fall within the catchment area which in turn is similar to the catchment area for our Chapter.

One of the main benefits of Radio Lollipop is that the money we raise we can spend and present the charity with goods and equipment they require, therefore all money raised will be spent and not used on advertising or admin costs, which I feel is a great plus.

Furthermore all the staff are volunteers based at the Children's Hospital and they would love and look forward to working closely with ourselves, we are in the process of arranging visits from the volunteers to attend both our monthly meetings in Wales and Bristol where you will be able to get a better insight of the work they do and have any of your questions answered.

The thought of working alongside a great charity like Radio Lollipop excites me, knowing that we are helping sick children and trying to make their stay at hospital as pleasant as possible. This gives me a great feeling and also a sense of achievement that as I have rode my bike for fun and enjoyment I am giving just a little bit back to those less fortunate than myself.

I would just like to end by thanking you all for your support since I have taken over the role of Charity Fundraiser and if anyone has any ideas on how we can make it any better please feel free to contact me.

Thanks, Bill.
My mobile: 07989 987189