Fylde coast charity homes in on vital funds

Home-Start Blackpool Fylde and Wyre, which started in St Annes and has grown in recent years after initially covering Fylde only, is offering the chance for members of the public to be in with a chance of a £500 prize by making a £10 donation to its coffers.

The charity, which offers support to families, has, like all similar organisations, found fund-raising events have dried up since the start of the pandemic and hopes hundreds of people will join in its new cash-generating effort.

Each £10 donation pays for a number of the donor’s choice between one and 365 and once all the numbers have been sold, the winner of the £500 prize will be drawn.

Dona Kirkham, the charity’s corporate and community fundraising manager, said: “We hope people will support this venture. It is vital we continue to fundraise in these trying times, to allow us to support families.

“We understand and appreciate that the ability to donate isn’t an option for everyone anymore so any funds that we do receive - we are so grateful for, and we appreciate every penny.”

The charity chief executive Pat Naylor said: “Since lockdown started, we have supported over 160 families and 680 children but we want to reach out and help even more.

“At a time where we can all find things a little bit harder, adapting to our new normal can be tough and this is a time when more families need a helping hand, a virtual hug or some support to get them through.

“We are seeing that more families have been affected directly by the current pandemic, with the circumstances of many changing dramatically inside 12 months, and this is adding to the number that need our help.

“Without sufficient funding, we are unable to support any more families as our co-ordinators and volunteers are fulfilling their roles to full capacity.”

To find out more about the fund-raising effort, go to www.paypal.com/paypalme/homestartbfw or email [email protected]

Dona added that the charity has another campaign ‘Be A Home-Start Hero’ in the pipeline, with details to be announced shortly.

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