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Ten good causes throughout Lancashire have received donations in the latest round of awards in our Chorley High Five initiative. It’s all in the name!
Our initiative is so-called after our board pledged to give a minimum of five per cent of our operating profits each year to support local charities, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and grassroots clubs.
As a mutual building society – which means we are owned by our members – we have undertaken to support good causes with the following aims:
- Supporting member and community wellbeing
- Tackling poverty and homelessness
- Supporting grassroots sporting activities
Our Charity Committee, made up of Chorley Building Society colleagues, meets every quarter to review applications and award donations.
Two good causes each given £500
We are delighted to make £500 donations to two charities working with families, each one for different reasons.
In what is a happy coincidence, the first charity to receive £500 is Chorley-based High Five. This well-deserving good cause supports families with children with severe disabilities. Having started out seven years ago helping six families, High Five now support more than 80 families all over Lancashire.
Our donation will go towards High Five’s monthly activities that the whole family can join in, these range from sensory sessions to arts and crafts and community activities. They are designed to support parents, siblings and young carers’ mental well-being, while providing inclusion in the community and reducing social isolation.
The other recipient of a £500 donation is Blackburn-based Child Action North West (CANW), which works with more than 6,000 children, young people and families in the passionate belief that every person has the right to achieve their full potential regardless of background and circumstances.
CANW works in the heart of communities – often in partnership with other organisations – to end family cycles of deprivation, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of self-esteem, youth crime, teenage pregnancies and broken families.
Our donation will benefit children and teenagers aged between four and 18. It will go towards one-to-one counselling sessions and therapeutic support in the Chorley area.
Boosting health and wellbeing
Four other organisations offering health and wellbeing support have been given awards ranging between £275 and £100.
We are Hummingbird is a non-profit mental health and suicide awareness organisation. It’s a community of music lovers who have united to spread awareness of mental health by using music as a platform to encourage people to open up and engage in conversation.
Our donation of £275 will go towards musical instruments for schools and other organisations that may not be able to afford them.
And we have awarded £250 to the Chorley FC Foundation, which will help to fund weekly sporting memories group sessions offering ‘wellbeing through reminiscence’ and gentle exercise for people living with dementia, loneliness and/or depression. The sessions are open to over-55s, their families and carers.
A New Dawn was formed during lockdown to build resilience in the community, and to help people stay connected and healthy.
Members began by growing their own food and the group has since expanded into foraging classes, family bushcraft, gardening days, wellbeing days and much more.
Our £100 donation will be going towards funds to expand further, including an outdoor tipi, a café and several green initiatives such as community growing projects, compost making and home-made toiletries.