Member Article

Cash boost for good causes across Swindon

Three good causes from across Swindon are to benefit from a community chest set-up by a leading developer. Brighter Futures, Swindon 105.5 Community Radio and the Swindon and District Branch of Parkinson’s UK have each received £1,000 from Persimmon Homes Wessex.

The donations are the latest to be made by Persimmon since it launched its Community Champions scheme in March, which sees a pot of £24,000 given out to local community groups, clubs and charities.

The £1,000 given to Brighter Futures will be donated to the Radiotherapy Appeal in order to bring cancer care closer to home for those living in Wiltshire. The money raised will equip a new Radiotherapy Centre with two Linear Accelerators required to deliver the life-saving equipment.

Swindon 105.5 Community Radio will put the funds towards the running costs of the station. Over their seven years on air, the station has been notable for welcoming volunteers and trainees with a wide range of disabilities such as visual impairment, learning difficulties and victims of physical abuse.

The funding received by the Swindon and District Branch of Parkinson’s UK will be spent on the specialist balance and exercise classes that the Branch provides at no cost to its members. These classes improve the balance and coordination of people with Parkinson’s, helping to maintain their independence and restore physical and emotional wellbeing.

Jennifer Green, head of fundraising for Brighter Futures, said.: “We are so pleased that Persimmon Homes has chosen to support us. The funds will help us provide the best possible cancer care to patients living in Wiltshire.”

Shirley Ludford, station manager for Swindon 105.5 was delighted with the news. She said: “This is an extremely generous gesture by Persimmon Homes and one that will continue to help us promote all aspects of our community.”

Suzannah Pegler, a volunteer fundraiser from Parkinson’s UK, said: “The Swindon & District Branch are very grateful for the support given by Persimmon Homes. There are many people who suffer from this condition and this funding will help support further research to identify causes and to assist treatment.”

Pauline Fletcher, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes Wessex said the community initiative was an excellent way of supporting people across every city, town and village where the company works.

She said: “We are confident this funding will make a huge difference to these groups. The quality of the submissions we received were very high, so choosing the good causes to support was much harder than we expected.

“We now want to hear from more clubs, groups and good causes as we look to allocate more funding over the next month. All we ask is that the group or charity has already worked hard to raise money themselves, and we will then match this effort with funding of up to £1,000.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lee Southen .