Last month, Jack Langford from Arbuckles Ely appealed for local groups to come forward as he wanted to give away 5, £100 cheques, money he was due to be paid as a bonus for his work.
Every employee at Arbuckles receives a reward from owners, John and Maxine Murphy, when a server gets a 5 star review on social media sites. Jack amassed £500 in bonuses and was happy to give it away.
During the appeal over 45 groups came forward and Jack had the difficult task to reduce those to just five but couldn’t do it.
“I cannot believe how difficult this is, every group deserves something and even shortening the list was very heartbreaking”.
He roped in family members to help him choose and eventually he settled on 7.
Jack then decided to add £200 to the pot out of his own pocket so each group still got £100 each.
The 7 recipients are:
Ely Aquarius Gateway Club
Lyn Parkinson accompied by Gill Bell told us “We are a club for adults with learning difficulties we meet every fortnight to do activities and play games over a cup of coffee and a biscuit. This is the only social life some of them have. The money will be used towards a trip to the seaside with a fish and chip dinner which they all enjoy.”
Ely Aquarius Group are not on Facebook but they meet every 2 weeks at Centre E on Barton Road.
Helping Little Hands Learn
Sky Ward explains “I started Helping Little Hands Learn almost 5 years ago to support families (locally and across Cambridgeshire) with children and young people with additional needs and disabilities. Parents often find they have to become a therapist to their child and miss out on valuable relaxed family time so my aim was to take some of the pressure off families by taking on some of that role in implementing therapies as well as helping children and families to learn new skills such as toileting, self-feeding, being able to go shopping or to a cafe, helping to deal with challenging behaviour, etc.
“About 1.5 years ago I had many parents saying that they were unable to access mainstream playgroups because it was too overwhelming for them or their child, that their children were unable to cope with the noise, the group size, the activities, etc so 1 year ago I started a play group – Helping Little Hands Play – to provide a safe, non-judgemental, welcoming place for parents to come with their under 5s, where they can chat with other parents and where the children can learn valuable skills in a way that is supportive to their individual needs.
“Helping Little Hands Play is run by myself and I often have 1-2 people who come and help, none of us are paid as we want to support families in our community who need it the most and the small contribution from families goes back to the group for tea/coffee, snacks, and on occasion small purchases of toys or craft bits, and which does not cover the cost of the venue. For a time I wasn’t able to afford the venue hire and so rather than stop the group I moved it into my home until we secured additional funds to pay for the venue hire again. We currently have funding to pay for the venue until July this year. We are hoping to be able to run some play sessions for under 8s as well as for over 8s during the summer holidays. The money Jack has kindly offered will be used either to pay for several sessions to be run during the summer holidays or to buy
“We currently have funding to pay for the venue until July this year. We are hoping to be able to run some play sessions for under 8s as well as for over 8s during the summer holidays. The money Jack has kindly offered will be used either to pay for several sessions to be run during the summer holidays or to buy
“The money Jack has kindly offered will be used either to pay for several sessions to be run during the summer holidays or to buy much-needed resources – such as large floor trays that can be used for messy play like sand, water, or shaving foam; sensory toys or cause and effect toys – to meet the individual needs of the children we have attending the group.”
The group can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelpingLittleHandsLearn/
You Are Not Alone – YANA
Elaine Lee submitted the entry but Kathryn Buck attended. “We are a local voluntary community group who provide a tea party one Sunday a month in the village hall for people who are on their own and desperately need company. Sunday is a difficult day for many people and this service has proved invaluable to many. Most of our regulars are very elderly and now living on their own.
“The money is to able to take them on a trip, some of our regulars have not left the village for many years. To be able to take them out one afternoon to see some of the countryside would be so beneficial to their health and wellbeing, something they would talk about for many weeks I am sure. Thank you to Jack for his very kind gesture”
For more information about their monthly meeting at Littleport Village Hall you can call 07904817941.
Young Epilepsy
Sam Knightley told us “This is the reason we are raising money this year for young epilepsy. Rachael, the girlfriend of one of our members, last year she was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 17, it disrupted the choices that her life would make, she couldn’t sit her A level because the medication made her too sleepy to study. She has done amazingly well with the support of the charity and is changing her career options.”
“We are a local Motorbike club, in and around Ely and Cambridgeshire, we pick a different charity each year to fund raise for, previously including Magpas and Cancer research.
We are a close knit family, and when we are not doing charity work for our nominated charity, or attending charity events from our fellow clubs, our hearts lie with camping and of course riding.”
For more information on HBF: https://www.facebook.com/HBFMotorbikeClub/ and Young Epilepsy: https://www.facebook.com/YoungEpilepsy/
Bumbly Bees Music Group
Tia Colcomb wants new play equipment for the children she teaches about music. “It’s a small music group run by myself. Funded everything by me. It brings so much happiness and the children learn lots of life skills. We are a really great family group and in need of new equipment.”
With thanks the HBF, Tia got to fulfil a lifelong dream of sitting on Harley.
You can find out about Bumbly Bees: https://www.facebook.com/bumblybeesmusicgroup/
The other recipients who were unable to attend are Theresas Tiny Treasures and Brambles Animal Sanctuary.
