Dig deep to support Christmas campaign
Alex Gore • Published 17 Dec 2011 17:00
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CHARITIES are urging the public to put their hands in their pockets to help launch Berkshire to the forefront of an incredible £250,0000 Christmas Match Fund Campaign Appeal.
A whopping £125,000 was released on Wednesday to double pledges made on Localgiving.com, a national donations website featuring 140 charities in the county. The Berkshire Community Foundation is encouraging people to make the most of the campaign to give charities ia festive boost.
It follows September's countywide Match Fund Appeal - run by the BCF, The Chronicle and its Berkshire Media Group sister publications - which raised £50,000 for charities and community groups.
Tessa Dove, chief officer of ABC to Read, a Reading-based charity training and supporting volunteers who help primary school children who have trouble reading, said: "It is a brilliant opportunity. At this time of year when people are thinking about giving, it's great to have something extra to encourage people to give to charities.
"It is tough at the moment, we are having to look at lots of different ways of getting the funding that we need to carry on with our work. Small charities in particular are finding it hard, we do not have the marketing support like the national organisations, so let's hope we can take full advantage of this."
ABC to Read raised £1,461 during our Match Fund Appeal, while Crossroads Care Reading made £1,201, which has paid for nearly 100 hours of respite support for carers in town.
Crossroads Care chief executive Mary Jacobs said: "It's great, I just hope some of our clients and supporters will donate to us. It's such a valuable way of getting extra funds. Many people think support for carers is the responsibility of statutory bodies and so don't always think about us when giving to charity. But statutory organisations can't fulfil everyone's needs. We need people to donate."
The £125,000 pot is coming out of a £500,000 grant given to Localgiving.com by the Government to run match fund appeals.
Charities can register with Localgiving.com throughout the campaign by calling the Berkshire Community Foundation on 0118 930 3021.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 16 Dec 11
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