As part of Santa’s Sleigh in December, we committed that all of the money collected during our night in Poulner would be donated to Stronger Together Across Ringwood & Fordingbridge, a new charity that focusses their efforts in helping local families in crisis across the local area.
STARF don’t just focus on the the families in our community that rely on free school meals but also those just above that line where they don’t get government support but are struggling. They’ve been working with families where kids are sleeping 3 to a bed or eating off the floor as they don’t have proper accommodation, helping out with toy vouchers at Christmas or feeding families in school holidays. Their aim is to expand what they do into moving beyond emergency support soon, such as being able to employ a financial hardship support expert to help families with making sure they are gutting the money that they are entitled to, or employing a mental health worker as our children are having to wait 18 months to get a referral via the NHS.
After collecting an amazing £282 on our trip around Poulner, thanks to the generosity of local people, we we’re able to top this sum up with the funds contributed by our Route Sponsor at The London Tavern which meant that our Chairman Francis along with our Secretary Martyn were able to hand over a cheque for a fantastic £432.28 to the team at STARF to help further their work & get them closer to their goals!
To find out more about the work that Stronger Together Across Ringwood & Fordingbridge do, please visit their website & see how you can support them!
