A diverse range of charitable good causes in Aldershot, Farnborough and Farnham are sharing a £20,000 bounty thanks to South East Water’s Community Chest Fund.
The projects chosen include Aldershot Underwood Bowling Club, Mustard Seed Autism Trust and Phyllis Tuckwell Memorial Hospice, and a grant of £2,000 each has been awarded to each of the three organisations.
This year over 100 applications to South East Water’s Community Chest Fund were received and the decision on where to place the money was taken by a panel of eight South East Water employees from all parts of the business, but all with an interest in raising money for good causes.
Aldershot Underwood Bowling Club will be using the funding to purchase and install rain water harvesting equipment for use at the club and associated allotments, to help reduce water consumption.
Mustard Seed Autism Trust provides support to autistic children and their families. The £2,000 will support friendship zone courses for children to help develop skills and techniques to navigate friendships, reduce loneliness, help to prevent bullying and vulnerability that can lead to grooming, anti-social behaviour, and poor mental health.
Phyllis Tuckwell Memorial Hospice will be purchasing a Mangar Eagle Emergency Lifting Cushion for use with patients in their Living Well services, out in the community in patients' homes. The device will be used if a patient falls and cannot easily be lifted, providing a simple and dignified way of getting them back up on their feet, and reducing the likelihood of needing to call on emergency services.
Tanya Sephton, Customer Services Director, South East Water said: “Once again this year we saw a high number of applications, giving the judging panel difficult decisions to make.
“After careful thought and discussion they went on to choose a number of projects covering a wide range of good causes that needed a little extra financial help to make a difference.
“This award from our Community Chest fund will help bring these projects to life and make a really positive difference to the communities they serve.”
Sarah Clements, Co-founder at Mustard Seed Autism Trust, said: “We are thrilled to receive a grant of £2,000 from South East Water’s Community Chest Fund to support our work with autistic children in our community.
“This funding will enable us to deliver our Friendship Zone course which supports autistic children in navigating friendships and social understanding, making a meaningful difference to their mental health.
"We are incredibly grateful to South East Water for their support. This funding will ensure that we can continue to support the wellbeing of young people in our community."
Jade Cope, Community Services Manager, Phyllis Tuckwell, said: “We are thrilled to receive £2,000 funding from South East Water’s Community Chest Fund which will enable us to buy an Eagle Lifting machine.
“This is an inflatable machine which will help us to assist patients when they have fallen either on our in-patient unit, at the Beacon Centre or in their homes in the community. The Eagle Lifting machine is a piece of equipment often used by emergency service paramedics as it enables safe lifting of patients from the floor to a sitting position where they can then stand up or transfer to a chair or bed. The Eagle Lifting machine is very portable, can be used in small spaces and allows our clinical staff to assist patients quickly and in a way that preserves their dignity if they have fallen where the alternative could involve calling emergency services and a long wait on the floor.”
To view the full list of this year’s winners, visit www.southeastwater.co.uk/communitychest(opens in a new tab)
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