A trio of worthy causes in Burnham-On-Sea have been handed a festive financial boost by a local fundraising group.
The Somerset and Dorset Pub’s Local Emergency Services Fund handed out three £500 cheques this week after a year of successful money-raising.
Roy Hodge, who oversees the group, handed over the money to Burnham Ambulance Station; BARB, the charity that runs the town’s rescue hovercraft; and Trevor Hayes, a Burnham cerebral palsy sufferer (pictured below with friends) who has been at the centre of a huge fundraising push in recent weeks.
The money from the LES Fund took the overall amount raised for Trevor, 46, to over £4,500. Last Thursday – just in time for Christmas – he was handed over a life-changing communications machine at Highbridge Medical Centre machine which allows him to communicate with people around him.
The fundraising campaign was co-ordinated by Tom Ashton, Chairman of the Burnham Community Medical Equipment Fund, who organised donations from groups across the town to enable the purchase of Trevor’s machine.
Among the groups handing over money to Trevor were Burnham Lions (£1,000), Burnham Round Table (£500), Burnham Community Medical Equipment Fund (£1,000), the Ladies Skittles Club (£103), St Andrew’s Church Carol Service (£200), Somerset Care office staff (£85) and Burnham Rotary Club (£500). The campaign was supported by the Weekly News.
Tom Ashton told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We’d usually expect to raise this amount of money for an equipment purchase over at least six months. To have done it in just two and a half weeks shows the strength of our community. I thank everyone who’s helped us.”
Photos: Our photos show (above) Trevor and his friends receiving their £500 cheque from the LES Fund’s Roy Hodge, and (top) representatives from each of the groups receiving their donations. Photos below show BARB crewmen receiving their donation and, bottom, members of the Burnham Community Equipment Fund getting funds for Burnham Ambulance Station.
