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Stirlings is a 40-capacity care home located in Garston Lane, Wantage, providing care for adults diagnosed with dementia or with a physical disability. They rely heavily on voluntary sector contributions and strong local links to allow vulnerable adults to achieve a more dignified lifestyle.

The Home is fortunate enough to have vast gardens, but with no funding for a gardener, the grounds have remained neat and tidy but sadly lacking in colour, fragrance and wildlife.

Laura Beale, a Trustee of The Ray Collins Charitable Trust, is hairstylist for residents and visits Stirlings weekly. She was aware that staff and families of residents had been fundraising in order to improve the gardens. But it was slow going and they were unlikely to have sufficient funds to make much impact this side of the summer.

The Ray Collins Charitable Trust exists to support and enhance the lives of lonely, isolated and vulnerable members of our community, so Laura proposed the garden makeover as a perfect project for the Trust, which was unanimously supported by the Committee.

Local businesses chip in

Using local business contacts, the Trust managed to secure a fantastic deal with Acorn Timber for 40 treated sleepers.

Mattingley Ltd Grab Hire donated 10 tonnes of top soil.

Charlton Garden Centre gave generous discount on plants and shrubs.

And Phil’s Home Improvements designed and built the raised beds free of charge.

Sustainable Wantage also kindly donated some plants, bird boxes and bug houses.

Garden makeovers are hard work

Starting on Thursday 11th May, Ray and a number of volunteers began the thankless and back-breaking task of digging out and preparing the various areas of the garden, ready for planting. The ground had not been worked for many years, so it was very heavy work with lots of roots, rocks and clay to clear.

The sleepers arrived on Saturday and were moved into position one by one by Phil Tynan, Phil Cox and Steve Penney as the three raised beds took shape. By the end of the day, they were complete: 4 or 5 beds had been dug out and various planters stripped out ready to be re-filled.

The workers retired for a well-earned rest, before the fun began again on Sunday. Over the course of the weekend, 30 volunteers including Steve Trinder, Mayor of Wantage, and several children, put in hours of hard graft to transform Stirlings’ bare grounds into a flourishing plethora of flora and fauna to the delight of staff and residents.

The mountain of top soil was moved wheel barrow load by wheel barrow load to the various beds and compost dug in to provide the perfect fertile environment for the new foliage to thrive.

People coming together

Throughout the weekend, residents ventured out to observe the activity and chat to the volunteers, particularly the children, whilst Lisa Ball and the staff kept Trustees and volunteers plied with food and drinks to keep them going!

Under the expert guidance of Lyndsay Champ and Jenny Church, the raised beds were planted with low-maintenance purple and white perennials and colourful bedding plants, interspersed with plum-coloured shale to deter weed growth. Fruit and vegetable patches were created with a fabulous selection of strawberries, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, gooseberries, rhubarb, carrots and raspberries. A fragrant herb garden was designed for maximum sensory stimulation with mint, rosemary, lavender, thyme and parsley.

Stirlings already had a few tired benches in the garden. With a little TLC, these were soon rubbed down and painted to provide an instant splash of colour on which residents and their families can sit and enjoy the splendid surroundings.

Our hopes for the future

It is hoped that with further donations, Stirlings will be able to acquire some patio furniture to enable more people to benefit from the beautiful gardens.

Charlton School donated some bird boxes and bug houses, so it is hoped that this project will build further ties between Stirlings and the school, which will benefit the children, parents, teachers and residents as they interact over a shared fascination in nature.

The new garden has stimulated much interest amongst residents and their families, so it is hoped that others will take an active interest in maintaining the beds, perhaps setting up a gardening club or rota to keep them weed-free and tidy.

Trustees and volunteers were rightly proud of the finished effect, but it won’t stop here. They intend to return later in the year to plant bulbs and seeds in the wooded area ready for next Spring.

On Easter Sunday 16th April, Ray met three cooks at the Wantage Health & Wellbeing Centre at 7am to get over 10kg of topside beef in the ovens ready for The Ray Collins Charitable Trusts Easter dinner.

Waitrose Wantage contributed £348 towards the dinner through their green token scheme, with the trust paying for the rest. This enabled forty-six local lonely elderly and vulnerable people to enjoy a fantastic meal, fantastic company and fantastic entertainment.

Trustees and volunteers decorated the centre on Good Friday with balloons, Easter bunting, set the tables with wonderful flower decorations from Hazel Stanyon and purchased all the food and drink for Sunday’s dinner.

Volunteers then made up the Easter egg parcels, so all the guests had more of a surprise to take home: not just a wonderful egg, but some lovely treats as well.

At 10.15am volunteer drivers and trustees began picking up the dinner guests. As each person arrived, they were seated and given a drink of their choice.

At 12.30pm dinner was served: roast topside beef with all the trimmings, followed by apple pie and custard. All of which was consumed with glee by the hungry guests and volunteers who all sat together enjoying their meal and each other’s company. We also delivered three dinners and eggs to people who were too poorly to attend the dinner.

At 1pm local folk band Shotgun Weather Ferret arrived and played a medley of toe tapping tunes which thoroughly entertained the crowd.

The Mayor popped in and sat chatting to many of the guests to their great joy as many had never met him before. The mayor’s wife Julia Trinder and their children Ellie and Daniel had handed out Easter cards to all the guests and helped get drinks for them.

Just after 2pm the trustees brought out Easter eggs parcels for all the guests, containing a large egg, shortbread biscuits, mini eggs, marshmallows, Easter bunnies, ginger bread men, coconut macaroons and more.

Trustees and volunteers then took everyone home while the remaining helpers tidied up the centre and cleaned the kitchen with everyone home and finished by 3.30pm.

Thank you so much to Tanja Salter, Michelle Church, Castel Fairlie, Tim Waite, Katie Buckingham, Karen England, Fiona Frost, April Moore, Laura Beale, Johnny Jenkin, Shelley Breakspear, Hazel Stanyon and Robert Huffnagle for all their help on Good Friday.

Thank you also to Castel Fairlie, Tracey, Karen England, Anna Byrom, Jan Taylor, Oliver Taylor, John Durban, Robert Huffnagle, Peter Williams, Chris May, Tracy Wilson, Ian Matthew Donaldson, April Moore, Jo Dickie, Julia Trinder, Ellie & Daniel, Steve Trinder, Ema Ralson, Daniel & Jasper Edwards and Waitrose Wantage for all helping at Sunday’s Easter dinner.

Another fantastic event by The Ray Collins Charitable Trust helping 46 local elderly and vulnerable people living in isolation.

All through March, The Ray Collins Charitable Trust and friends of the trust were collecting Easter eggs in Waitrose Wantage for all the local day centres, Fitzwaryn school, The Children’s Hospital at the JR, Sobell House and for elderly and vulnerable people living in isolation.

In total the trustees and volunteers collected 850 eggs! Approx. £2,000 worth, which is a staggering amount. All the trustees would like to thank the staff and amazing customers in Waitrose for their continued help and support.

A huge thank you to Sarah Lewis Tynan and Adam Tynan, Tracey, Sarah Crayford, Julia Trinder and Ellie, Karen England, Susan Thwaite, Paula-Jane Dean, Jan Taylor, Georgina Hicks, Jacqui Allen, Stuart Game and Daisy Game and Wendy Stimpson for giving up your time and helping with this fantastic effort and to Lisa Henry for her sorting and stacking skills and stacking skills.

They say nothing in life is guaranteed, but I guarantee we will see 850 massive smiles on some of the most deserving and very special people’s faces aged from new-borns to 100+.

Together we are making a real difference in our community.

Life always gives you an opportunity to make someone smile.

Trustees made up six Easter egg parcels for Maria Curtis, her siblings and her mum Minnie. Maria is looking so much better than she did at Christmas, when she spent several days in hospital.

Her kidney is functioning better but still a long way to go. All the Trustees wish Minnie, Maria and all the family a very Happy Easter and an we will continue to monitor Maria’s progress and help where we can.

Trustees delivered hundreds of eggs to The October Club, Wantage Health & Wellbeing Centre, The Charlton Centre for adults with special needs, Stirling’s Elderly Care Home, Grove Day Centre, Beatbox youth club children with special needs, Fitzwaryn School, all wards at the Children’s Hospital at the JR and children’s A&E and Sobell House.

Ray and Phil visited the Children’s Hospital. Several patients were thrilled with their chocolatey surprise, none more than little Connor who is recovering from a serious head operation. How big is that smile!

The trust also purchased a brand new fridge freezer for Sweatbox youth club after theirs failed and couldn’t be repaired economically. Ray and Kate delivered the fridge freezer along with Easter eggs for Beatbox.

Thank you to all who donated your generosity and kindness made this possible.

Happy Easter!

What is Blingo, you may ask. When Ray Collins first brought the idea to our September Committee meeting, none of us had heard of it either. He had come across the concept by chance and thought we could develop the idea: a ladies only event where they get their posh frocks and sparkliest jewellery out to play a few games of bingo. And so the seed was sown!

Despite the fact Tracy had never played bingo in her life, she immediately volunteered herself to lead this project and set about creating a night the ladies of Wantage would be talking about for months.

Blingo rapidly developed a life of its own and before we knew it we were arranging an event for up to 170 people, playing 13 games of bingo, making 1200 canapés, serving 30 bottles of Prosecco, amassing over 30 donated prizes, inflating 90 balloons and applying baby oil to the bare chests of 12 topless waiters!

February was our target month – something to look forward to after the January blues. The Beacon was the venue of choice for the scale and type of event we were hosting. So 17 February was pencilled in the diary before Christmas and a teaser post put out on Facebook to whet the appetite of our target audience.

The response was unbelievable! Never had we had more views on a post and groups of up to 10 people were already asking to reserve tickets.

We decided this was going to be a quality event with lots of glitz and sparkle, so who better to be our main sponsor than Peter Casey Jewellers? They very kindly agreed to support the event and donated a number of beautiful pieces that we could use as bingo prizes, including the jackpot prize of a beautiful pendant necklace.

This was no time to be shy and retiring. Each of the Trustees tapped up their friends/family/colleagues/acquaintances for classy raffle prizes and as always we were astounded by the generosity of local businesses and individuals as the donations came rolling in.

Terry, the Trust’s ever-faithful catering partner, agreed to create over 1,000 amuse bouche, with which our cheeky waiters would tease the appetites of our hungry ladies. This is no mean feat and I’m still not sure we’ll ever be forgiven for that challenge!

Rapidly the big day approached, the anticipation grew. And the panic set in. What if our waiters let us down at the final hurdle? We’d have a riot on our hands! Our ladies had paid good money to be served canapés by topless men, so topless men we must provide!

Many different tactics, angles, friendly threats and powers of persuasion were employed to finally secure the services of a dozen local guys who voluntarily gave up their Friday night to parade themselves around for the pleasure of our eager ladies.

So the big day finally arrived and after much balloon attaching, chair covering, bow tying, table laying and prize displaying, we were ready to welcome the ladies of Wantage.

And they certainly didn’t let us down! A host of beautiful women aged 18 to 85 began filling the bar as individual flair and personality was showcased through an amazing array of glamorous outfits of every imaginable colour.

Each received a welcome glass of bubbly and excited chatter soon filled the bar, quickly followed by giggles of delight as the waiters started mingling between the guests with platters of canapés.

Raffle tickets and bingo dabbers were purchased as all 170 highly animated women moved through the bar to the main hall, where everyone was seated with anticipation by 8pm.

Tracy welcomed everyone to the event and after thanking the long list of donors and helpers, the room fell silent as the serious business of bingo began.

Tuxedo-clad Matt expertly lead bingo proceedings. One by one the winning cards were checked by Laura and the fabulous prizes awarded to much whooping and applause. One table brought a secret supply of miniature rubber ducks which were pelted at the stage each time Matt called 22 “two little ducks”, much to the amusement of the room!

Six games in, a break was called to allow guests to recharge their glasses and the waiters to peddle their wares. Slightly more lubricated (both in terms of alcohol and baby oil!), the waiters were far more relaxed by now and were enjoying the attention from the ladies as they navigated the tables and posed for photos.

Bingo re-commenced with a further six winners, followed by the jackpot game when the winner, Louise Carr, was carried to the stage by several waiters to collect the star prize.

One very special guest, June Brown, was celebrating her 85th birthday at Blingo, so of course we had to make a fuss of her on this momentous occasion! Much to her embarrassment, she was presented with a beautiful cake and flowers by the waiters, making her feel spoilt on her special day.

Raffle tickets had been on sale throughout the evening, so while the waiters tempted the ladies with sweet treats, Ray drew the raffle. Each of the 15 winners was escorted by a waiter to collect amazing prizes donated by our community including a half day Spa Experience, Pamper Hamper and Chocolate Hamper.

Once the final prize had been collected, Tracy asked the waiters to assemble at the front of the stage so guests could show their appreciation. She thanked everyone for coming and making the event such a success. Guests were invited to fill the dance floor as the disco began.

As soon as the music started, everyone was on their feet and dancing. Many of the waiters joined the ladies on the dance floor, as the Trustees marvelled at the intoxicating atmosphere. It was a scene to behold and one that would be reflected on many times in the days to come.

Gradually the numbers dwindled as sore feet carried tired, exhilarated ladies home from what had been a fun-filled evening for all.

Midnight arrived as the lights went up on Blingo 2017. Trustees, helpers and Beacon staff disassembled the hall and returned it to its original state. Still buzzing from the positive comments and amazing feedback received, we departed with weary smiles of satisfaction at a job well done.

On Christmas Day, Trust chairman Ray Collins left home at 6.30am to meet three cooks at the Wantage Health & Wellbeing Centre. While most people were still asleep, the cooks prepped the SIX turkeys and they were put in the oven at 7am. The team then set about tackling the kilos of vegetables: parsnips, carrots, sprouts and potatoes.

The previous day Ray and several Trustees and volunteers had transformed the centre into a banquet hall fit for a king. 18 tables were dressed and decorated with gold & white table cloths, gold napkins and handmade Christmas centre pieces provided by Hazel Stanyon. Snowman cupcake holders from Waitrose also added fun and colour to the arrangements.

At 10am a fleet of volunteers drivers started collecting the lucky guests and bringing them to the centre. Each guest was greeted with a Christmas card from the Trust and seated with a drink of their choice.

At 11am a group of local folk musicians and singers led by Howard Hill played some festive favourites. The Wantage Town Mayor Steve Trinder arrived and wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and spent time talking to the guests before returning to his own Christmas festivities.

Just after midday the Wantage Silver Band popped in and treated everyone to several carols which got everyone singing along and having fun.

Forty-four people who would have spent Christmas alone, then enjoyed a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, a choice of Christmas pudding or apple pie & custard, mince pies and coffee. Then everyone was given a lift home with their Christmas hamper and box of chocolates and leftover turkey for evening supper.

The only disappointment were several people too ill to attend. With four in hospital, it put a tinge of sadness on the day. A couple of meals and hampers were delivered and hopefully the others will be well enough soon to receive theirs.

A massive thank you to all our helpers today: Tracy Wilson, Debbie Burberry, Castel Fairlie, the Harvey Family, Liz & Ken Peach, Robert Huffnagle, Chris May, Peter Williams, Les Bury and his wife, Katie Buckingham, Marie & Roy Clarke John Durban, Declan Laycock, Annette, Daniel, Jasper and Mathew Edwards, Fiona Frost, Sarah Crayford, Howard Hill and his musicians, The Wantage Silver Band who were all fantastic.

A special mention to two young ladies who were amazing and went above and beyond today: Bryony Wilson and Holly Jackson.

Both girls were completely at ease talking to the guests. They served food and drinks all day, tidied, carried hampers all with smiles on their faces and really bonded with the guests. Nothing was too much trouble. Often teens get a bad rap, but these two were exceptional today and we at the Trust are so proud of them both.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our supporters and thank you to Waitrose Wantage, Challow & Childrey Cricket Club and all of you for making this happen.

If ever there was an event that epitomises our slogan “Making a real difference in our community”, it’s this one.

The Ray Collins Charitable Trust had a very busy week leading up to Christmas. After making 120 hampers, over sixty were delivered in and around Wantage with the help of the Wantage Neighbourhood Police Team, trustees and the October Club.

On Tuesday 20th December the Trust were contacted about helping a local mum and her poorly child. Minnie Cutis’ 9-year old daughter Maria had undergone a kidney transplant when she was only 2 years old. Recently, Maria had become very unwell, rapidly losing weight and weighing less than 3 stone. Maria had been admitted to hospital in London and is hopefully on the mend.

Facing the prospect of spending Christmas Day miles away from her four brothers and sisters, and with no other family to help out, the Trust sent a special Christmas hamper packed with goodies to help both Maria and her mum enjoy the Christmas holidays wherever they spend it.

All the Trustees would like to wish Minnie and all her children a Merry Christmas. We are all hoping and praying Maria makes a full and speedy recovery.

Minnie and Maria received their hamper on Thursday evening 22nd December. They were both thrilled and touched with everyone’s generosity.

“This appeal is exactly why the trust was set up,” said Trust chairman Ray Collins, “Helping a desperate local mum facing being apart from her four other children and friends at Christmas to care for a very poorly daughter miles away was a no brainer. The Trustees didn’t hesitate to put together a huge hamper full of treats and staple foods to see Minnie and Maria through this tough time.”

Then, on Thursday 22nd December, Trustees from The Ray Collins Charitable Trust were joined by some naughty elves from Santa’s workshop. Together they delivered several hundred pounds worth of Christmas presents and Christmas food to a local family with a seriously ill parent. The Trust had raised funds the month before at our Chilli Quiz Night, to help this family get through Christmas at the toughest of times.

We purchased Christmas presents including brand new Christmas outfits for the three children aged 3, 5 and 8 as their mum would have done, Kindles, Paw Patrol toys, One Direction items, a huge turkey and all the trimmings, puddings, fruit, veg, Christmas crackers, cheese boards, biscuits, chestnuts, chocolates and much more to last through the holidays. We also hope to pay for a day trip during the holidays for the family to a venue of their choice.

We would like to thank everyone who supported our Quiz Night, including Dews Meadow Farm Shop, Peter Ledbury Ltd and KA Fitness. Thank you for enabling this wonderful family to have as enjoyable a Christmas as is possible at this extremely worrying time. Let’s hope 2017 brings them the greatest gift of all.

We have finished collecting items in Waitrose for the Christmas hampers that we will donate to elderly people living in isolation and those in need in our community.

In total, 19 trolley loads with 3,350 items have been donated! That’s 600 items more than last year.

Most popular were soup (500 tins), crisps (347), tinned fish (226), Xmas puddings (175), biscuits (164), tinned fruit (136), crackers for cheese (129) and tea (147).

16 volunteers helped with collecting, and 18 people helped counting and recording items. A massive thank you to all of you!

Huge thanks to the hundreds of shoppers at Waitrose Wantage, whose generosity and kindness has been overwhelming at times.

Thank you as well to all the Waitrose staff, for looking after our volunteers.

And huge thanks to all at Challow & Childrey Cricket Club, for storing everything and for being so helpful unloading and helping out.

A huge thank you to all the fantastic companies and several anonymous donations who have supported our Christmas hamper appeal so far:

Waitrose
Peter B Ledbury Ltd
Day and Night Assistance
Aspire
The Duplication Centre
Chapman and Co
TSB Wantage
Nationwide
Laura’s Hair at Home
Rowes Costcutter
and Changing Lives
… to name a few.

A simple act of kindness can make a huge difference and is never wasted.

Now the hard work really starts, with 120 Christmas hampers to make up!

We have purchased:
400m of wrapping paper
200m of snowflake cellophane
5000g of shredded paper
120 hamper boxes
120 bows
500m of ribbon
120 Christmas cards
10 pairs of scissors
6 sellotape dispensers and packing tape

All ready to start the mammoth job of making 120 hampers on Sunday 4 December.

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.”