Besides the charitable work we do throughout the year, this festive period we are giving £1,000 away, split between four charitable causes. Peter Harrison (FGH Managing Director) states “We wanted to make a difference and help a range of charities and causes continue with the great work that they do.” Following an appeal for nominations via Facebook and Twitter, which saw over 100 of our staff, clients and community taking the time to nominate their chosen charity, we have chosen four charities which will each receive a donation of £250:
Derian House (derianhouse.co.uk Facebook Twitter) is situated in the heart of Lancashire and is renowned throughout the region as being at the forefront of children’s palliative and respite care. They currently support over 300 families who have a child with a life shortening illness and a further 200 who receive bereavement support. Peter added “Derian House makes a real difference to a lot of families when they are facing an unimaginably tough time, they have helped many people I know personally and do some fantastic work”
Joshua Wilson or ‘SuperJosh’ (joshwilson.org.uk Facebook Twitter) as he’s come to be known as, was a very happy normal 3 & a half year old when he was diagnosed with a brain stem brain tumour. Due to the location of the tumour following a life saving operation he was left with complex physical needs, epilepsy, scoliosis, joint & chest problems and an acquired brain injury. Josh can’t verbally communicate anymore and reliant on simple signs and facial expressions. The charity aims to help children that have or have had brain tumours and their families in the form of advice, support and financial solutions. Peter added “SuperJosh has an enormous amount of support from his Twitter followers and when I took time to read Josh’s story it brought a tear to my eye. The money we donated will be used to pay for a hospital expenses grant for one of the families effected and that makes me feel very proud.”
Lancaster Bulldogs (lancasterbulldogs.co.uk Facebook) are a wheelchair basketball team that was founded in 2008 and they depend entirely on charitable donations to pay for their equipment. Besides playing in a national competitive league they still find time to take part in a number of outreach projects where they visit schools and encourage the children to take part in wheelchair basket ball games. They also take part in fundraising projects and challenges to help raise funds for other local charities. Peter added “I went to visit the Bulldogs during a training session earlier this year and witnessed first hand exactly how big a part the wheelchair team play in many people’s lives, it was extremely encouraging to see and the support team really are tremendous role models for the kids.”
Unique Kidz and Co (uniquekidzandco.org.uk Facebook Twitter) provides specialist services for over 120 disabled children and their families offering everything from Holiday Clubs through to consultation workshops and specialist practitioners. Their services allow parents and carers of disabled children to return to work or education, spend time with other family members, or have some much needed respite. Peter commented “We already do some fundraising for Unique Kidz, they really are a terrific charity and provide not only fun activities for disabled kids but also give a break to worn out parents who may otherwise find it difficult to find suitable childcare arrangements”.
“I’d like to thank everyone who spent the time to nominate a charity and for all the retweets and shares which meant we reached a much wider audience – even though this made an already difficult job even harder when we had to select the final four! I would also like to say well done to all the charities who do an excellent job day in, day out. Merry Christmas to you all”.