OUR SUMMER CHARITY RAFFLE, 1 MONTH ON
The Warwickshire Review’s Summer Charity Raffle announced its lucky winners last month. Whilst you’ve all been receiving your various prizes, the money spent on your raffle tickets has been divided up and distributed to our five selected charities. We are incredibly thankful to every individual who got involved with this year’s raffle which enabled us to give each charity a massive £636 EACH! And it brings us great joy to be able to share what your generous donations have helped to achieve in our local community….
SWFT Charity (South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust)
Thanks to the incredible community spirit of those in Warwickshire we were able to donate a total of £636 to the SWFT Charity who will be using the money to provide services and support for patients and families affected by dementia and other cognitive impairments. Marie, one of SWFT’s Admiral Dementia Nurses has sent over a message to thank everyone for their generous contributions. Marie is one of the nurses working on the ward supporting patients and she explains how your collective generosity will enable them to enrich their patient’s experiences. Your donations will be going towards providing additional resources for the patients on the ward, including activities that will benefit their cognition and quality of life.
SWFT Charity focuses on sprinkling magic in those areas of our health services that will benefit the most. The cost of your raffle tickets has helped provide those small touches that can make a huge difference to a person’s experience, including staff, patients, and family members.
Coventry & Warwickshire MIND
David, the Director of Business Support for Coventry and Warwickshire Mind, has sent us over a thank you as he explains the impacts of Covid-19 on our community’s mental health. Last year, 38,000 people in Coventry and Warwickshire reached out to Mind for support, and this year those numbers are continuing to rise. Your donations have gone towards their Emergency appeal, which will enable C&W Mind to provide services to those in our community struggling with their mental health.
Since the last time we were fortunate enough to write about Mind (click here to read our previous article), some of their services have been redeveloped to suit the current global emergency. The Recovery Academy has been developed further with more online resources, and some sessions available via Zoom video call. They have expanded their online workshops to enable those in our community to access support and information without putting themselves and others at risk. C&W Mind have also reopened some of their Wellbeing Hubs and continue to provide 1:1 support for those in our community facing mental distress.
AGE UK Coventry & Warwickshire
Barry, Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire’s promotions officer got in touch to let us know how your donation of £636 will help to support them during this difficult time. Age UK’s charity shops were closed during the height of lockdown. As a result, a need for donations was essential for Age UK C&W to provide their extremely valuable services when the elderly in our community need it most. Free services, such as Befriending, provide members of our community an opportunity to tackle isolation and loneliness. Counselling and information services are also extremely important for those who are facing a wide variety of difficulties. Your generous donations have helped to fund these free services and assist Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire to overcome Covid-19 and help members of our community to do so too.
Since our last article (click here to read our previous article), we are pleased to say that Age UK have begun reopening some of their charity shops across Warwickshire. Here at The Warwickshire Review, we cannot repeat this enough to you; support our local shops and charities! Your expressions of generosity during this Covid-19 crisis have demonstrated what we can achieve as a community. Please, as lockdown rules change and social distancing measures continue to adapt, do not forget about your local business owners and the incredible support we receive as a community from charities like Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire.
The GEH Charity (George Eliot Hospital Charity)
Meghan, the fundraising coordinator for George Eliot Hospital, got in touch to thank everyone involved in this year’s raffle. The George Eliot Hospital accepts over £100k in donations each year but with current circumstances prevalent, the trust has needed our support more than ever.
Your donations of £636 to George Eliot Hospital have been allocated to their Health and Wellbeing Fund. This fund will enable further support for patients and staff regarding their mental wellbeing, relaxation, and mindfulness. When our health services have been tackling incredible pressure and strain, we are overjoyed that your raffle tickets will be helping to provide further support for the wellbeing of those at George Eliot Hospital.
UHCW Charity (University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire)
Our final selected charity was University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust charity. Their £636 donation has been received by ward 20 of Coventry’s University Hospital (formally know as Walsgrave). Claire, the ward manager of Ward 20 at Coventry UHCW Hospital, got in touch to pass on the gratitude of her team.
Your generous donations have been allocated to her ward, which has recently had two rooms converted. From discussion with her team and feedback from their patients, they will be using the funds you raised to buy Dyson fans for those rooms. With the weather conditions so warm now, the elderly patients residing in those rooms will benefit greatly from these added touches and will improve their patient’s experience for a long time to come.
Thank you from us at The Warwickshire Review for your incredible altruism and sense of community. Our desire to be part of a community that celebrates each other and supports one another looks more realistic with every single act of kindness we witness. If we continue to work together and support one another, imagine the things we can overcome.
Once again THANK YOU to all the businesses who donated prizes, everyone who purchased tickets, shared the raffle, and helped spread the word – we couldn’t have done it without you!
