Helping Hand
- Details
- Published on Friday, 18 May 2012 15:52
Congratulations and Well Done to Caroline Bridge, residents, family and friends of Riverside Flats in Blaina. In just three years they have raised a staggering £10,000 for Hospice of the Valleys, “Precious Moments New Building Appeal”. It all started when Marlene Davies, a resident of the sheltered complex who has had melanoma, wanted to raise money for charity by making greetings cards. Scheme manager, Caroline Bridge suggested the appeal to build a new hospice centre in Ebbw Vale, and it all went from there.
The residents, their family and friends ran a series of money making events over the years to raise the cash.
Kevin Davidge, a fundraising officer with the appeal, said: “There just aren’t the words to describe how grateful we are to Caroline and everyone for all their efforts. They have all worked tirelessly and we are so lucky for their support.”
Caroline Bridge has been a volunteer for Hospice of the Valleys for more than 12 years and does four table top sales a month in aid of the charity. “It all started from a conversation between Marlene and myself. It is lovely to think that we are able to help others worse off than ourselves.”
Marlene Davies, who also has arthritis, says making the cards keeps her active. “I enjoy doing them and now plan to make them in aid of diabetes research.”
Contractors from the nine firms working with us to improve our homes have been into our offices at Blaina to discuss our achievements over the past year ... and to look forward to the next 12 months. When we took over, none of our properties met the Welsh Government’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard. We are spending £111 million by 2015 to make sure they do.
Friends, Claire King and Hannah Armstrong are another step closer to starting their own business. The mums, who live at Rassau in Ebbw Vale, and are tenants of Tai Calon Community Housing, want to set up their own plastering business. They have already completed their National Qualifications Framework Level 1 in Plastering and have now taken a one day course in “Professional Development and CV Writing”.