A busy day with happy faces

Trustees from The Ray Collins Charitable Trust had a busy day on Thursday 24th November helping two great causes.

First Ray Collins, Matthew Donaldson, Tracy Wilson, Laura Beale and Wantage Town Mayor Steve Trinder arrived at King Alfred’s East site to visit students at Beatbox Youth Club. The club is run by volunteers from Sweatbox, for children with learning difficulties and disabilities.

This year’s annual pantomime trip was going to be cancelled due to lack of funds. So Georgina Hicks who helps run Beatbox, applied to our Trust to see if we could help.

The trustees were in complete agreement and didn’t hesitate to fund the trip for twenty-five children and carers. The Trust presented Beatbox £750 to pay for the coach hire, theatre tickets and pizza and ice cream for all.

“All of the children were so excited that their panto trip was now going ahead,” said Ray. “There were lots of smiles on faces, as well as lots of high fives. We were so pleased to be able to help this wonderful youth club who do such great work with all these fantastic students and enable this trip to go ahead.”

Cancer Research

The Trustees and the Mayor then moved on to the Cancer Research shop in Wantage, where we were joined by the team from Specsavers, sponsors of this year’s Race for Life, to present shop manager Debbie Jackson a cheque from this year’s Race for Life and other fundraising events.

Ray presented a cheque for £5,000 which will stay in Oxfordshire and be used for pioneering and vital research to keep up the fight against this awful disease.

“Everyone at the Trust is so very proud to be able to give such a huge sum of money to such a worthy cause,” Ray said. “Far too many people are still losing their own battles with cancer, as we know all to well. In Wantage some of the very best have left us too soon. We must keep up the research to give everyone who is fighting, the gift of hope. Because when you are staring into the darkness of cancer, sometimes hope is all you have.”

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