With major fundraising events like Eel Day and Aquafest cancelled due to Covid-19, the Ely Hereward Rotary Club have been looking for new fundraising events during lockdown.
Club member Mike Anthony has come up with the idea of having his beard shaved off for charity.
Mike, who lives in March, has been living separately from his wife in Slovakia since March, with no prospect of meeting up again until at least July, during which time he has grown a luxuriant beard of which he is quite proud…
His wife is not so keen, so Mike is proposing to part with it in a sponsored beard shave, with all proceeds going to charity and is hoping to raise at least £500 to part with his pride and joy…
The chosen charity is the Cambridge branch of the Samaritans, one of the oldest and largest branches in the country, which has been giving invaluable emotional support to the people of Cambridgeshire for over 50 years. To deal with increased levels of demand arising from Covid 19, a dedicated phone number has more recently been set up just for NHS staff.
The work of Cambridge Samaritans, and local need for its services, is extensive, as the following statistics show.
In the past year (April 2019 to March 2020) 31,802 calls received, 506 outbound calls, over 9,238 hours on the phone, 1,808 SMS messages sent, 1,664 e-mails, and 160 visits to their office from persons in distress. 41 new listening volunteers trained and on 31st March 2020 a total of 179 volunteers (168 listeners and 11 support volunteers).
In all, 35,951 total contacts, which translates to almost 100 contacts a day.
Ely Hereward Rotary will keep everyone updated with the appeal via the local press, social media, and our club Facebook page. Look out for our announcement of the date and time fixed for Mike’s big shave which will be sometime in mid-July.
If you would like more information about the Samaritans, please visit: https://www.samaritans.org/branches/cambridge/
To sponsor Mike, please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MikeAnthony1
If anyone would like to join this fundraiser with their own beard shave, head shave, or just a haircut – your support would be most welcome!
Press release from Ely Hereward Rotary Club
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