Anglian Radio Kids Trust

A Busy Week

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pictore of chantry valeIt would appear that developments are like buses – you wait ages for one and then three turn up at once! So in the last week we have had presentations for Aldi; Chantry Vale and Belstead Meadows. If growth is your bag then you will be rubbing your hands in glee but – and its a big BUT – if traffic grinds to a halt as a result is that a price too high?

Parish meetings at Pinewood, Copdock & Washbrook and Chattisham & Washbrook all expressed serious doubts about the ability of the infrastructure to cope with these developments, especially as just getting minor ‘improvements’ done to the existing road network is nigh on impossible.

Logo - BeachOn Friday I tripped up to Lowestoft for a Help An East Coast Child meeting with DIAL. One of our money raising schemes is proving so successful that we are hoping to provide funds to DIAL who help us out with many of our grant requests.

Saturday morning found me sheltering (with a handful of Friends of Belstead Brook Park members) under the A14 waiting for the downpour to stop before we could get on and work to cut back trees and bramble from one of the paths on Belstead Meadows. I would love to have been able to read the minds of the dog walkers that passed us in the tunnel as we must have looked like a bunch of terrorists.

This week there is I.T. training; a Planning Committee at Babergh and a couple of tours of the Energy from Waste facility and hopefully a round of golf.

Helping The Kids

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This was the last in the series of Anglian Radio Kids Trusts grant meetings.  Below are 2 of the requests (de-personalised) – one where we were able to give a little more and one where we could only contribute to a fund.

The Financial Inclusion Officer with SCC’s FAST (Family Assessment and Support) Team has asked the charity for help with a single mum who is supporting four children (aged 6 to 16).  The family is facing a number of problems which leaves the children disadvantaged and vulnerable. Both mum and the oldest child have mental health problems while another child has autism and is struggling at school. Mum is not able to work and is surviving only on tax credits and child benefit. Consequently, the condition of their home has deteriorated as mum has neither had the money nor the motivation to improve things. Social Care has become increasingly worried for the well-being of the children.

The Officer has applied to Local Welfare Assistance for furniture but would be grateful if the charity would consider further assisting the family with a grant of £300 to improve the condition of the home. He would like to purchase a skip to remove waste from the garden allowing the children to play safely, a mattress, paint and brushes, duvet cover sets and fitted bed sheets. He feels that a grant would not only benefit the children but would also help mum to feel more positive about herself and, in turn, better able to meet the children’s needs going forward and maybe return to work in the coming months.

We were pleased to make a grant of £500

 

A’s daughter is fifteen months old and has Cystic Fibrosis. The family is saving to buy her an airway clearance vest that will help with her lungs and enable her to live a longer life.  Her daughter has regular physiotherapy to keep her clear of the mucus which makes it so difficult for her to breathe, the vest is a wonderful piece of physio equipment that shakes the mucus enabling her to breathe better. The total cost of the vest is £7,000 and, to date, the family has raised £1,000 through charity events and sponsorship.  They would be grateful for any donation towards the shortfall.

Unfortunately we do not have sufficient funds to buy the vest but we have added £1,000 to the pot and promised another £1,000 when they get to £6,000.

If you would like to help financially or in another way then please click onto the logo or contact me. Thanks

Norfolk Mystery Tour

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Logo - North NorfolkWhat is 200 miles from Ipswich, with me driving, but only 60 in a straight line? Most of the people who know me would say anywhere, but in this case it is the home of the North Norfolk radio station in Stody. Note to myself – when you know one way there and another way back don’t try to reverse the route!

However it was worth a day driving around the wilds of Norfolk and Suffolk as we were deciding on the grants to be made from the North Norfolk Radio Kids Trust – these are my favourite days. Whether its providing a computer for a refuge where women and children arrive with just the clothes on their backs or providing portable goals to a nomadic youth football club its a good thing to do.

If you get the chance to help the Kids Trust or one of the organisations that come to us for funds – Leeway, YESU, Crazee Kidz Club, Young Eyes – then please be generous.