charity

“The Parish Council is committed to helping the most vulnerable in its Parish.”

Haydon Wick Parish Council recently agreed to support two local mental health charities – The Kelly Foundation and BEST – Be a Better You, in their fundraising efforts this year and until the end of April 2024.  Throughout the next 12 months the Council will host a variety of fundraising events and activities to help raise funds for both charities. All fundraising events will be open to all and have the dual aim of providing a great community event whilst raising as much money for the good causes as possible.

The Parish Council is committed to helping the most vulnerable in its Parish.  They do this in many ways and not just in with this most recent decision to support these two important local charities.  The Council invests in its team to ensure that staff members are trained Mental Health First Aiders and Dementia Friendly. They are also continuing to deliver an inclusive programme of Reducing Loneliness and Isolation in the community with events such as the Haydon Wick Haven – a warm and welcoming coffee morning which allows residents to have a friendly chat, meet new people and discuss local issues with their parish council, popular community yoga sessions which are financially subsidised by the Council, as well as regular Mental Health Walks in many of the parish’s therapeutic parks and open spaces.

The Kelly Foundation is a registered charity set up to listen, understand and support individuals suffering from acute anxiety, depression and other mental health problems.  As a new charity, they have found it is extremely difficult to raise funding, as most formal funding bodies require at least two years track record (for understandable reasons) with accounts and outcomes. The charity supports individuals within the Parish and across Swindon all with a range of complex needs some emotional and some practical.

John Stooke, Chairman at The Kelly Foundation said; “We were delighted to learn that Haydon Wick Council has adopted us as a nominated charity for the next year. The income raised will be spent entirely on buying in specialist and additional support at heavily discounted rates, from the private sector, for individuals in distress. The Council’s support, in helping us to help others, is sincerely appreciated.”

BEST – Be a Better You is a registered charity that started in 2020 with a clear vision to provide a positive experience for young people with different social, emotional and mental health barriers. This is achieved through sports training and 1-2-1 mentoring, supporting the young people who work with the charity to lead successful lives. The Charity’s ethos is to support, deliver and guide a young person to be best they can be through sport and mentoring.

Craig Hiscock, Operations Director said; “The whole team at BEST – Be a Better You, cannot thank Haydon Wick Parish Council enough for their ongoing support and choosing us as one of their charities they will support from 2023 – 2024. We are a small local charity working with many children and young people at risk in Swindon. Any help we receive is greatly appreciated and funds raised for the charity go directly to supporting the young people. We have worked closely with Haydon Wick Parish Council since we began three years ago and value the relationship we have with them. We are really looking forward to attending and supporting the forthcoming events over the next 12 months.”

The Chairman of the Council – Cllr Vinay Manro had this to say to say about the partnerships; “I was delighted to see the support in nominating The Kelly Foundation and BEST by our Councillors for our chosen charities for this year. The Council cannot deliver everything on its own, and working with partners such as these enables us to deliver what our residents are asking for. The Council’s Community Led Plan is clear in its aim to make Haydon Wick a ‘Kinder and more Caring’ place to live and it hopes the community can see how hard their Parish Council is working to make this possible.”

Both charities will be attending the Council’s Summer Spectacular that takes place on Saturday 15^th July 2023 at King George V Field, SN25 1HQ. The event is open to the public from 10.00am – 5.00pm and include a boxing and sport presentation from some of the BEST attendees as well as raising awareness of mental health issues in a dedicated Mental Health & Wellbeing area of the event.  For more information about the event visit the Council’s website: https://haydonwick.gov.uk/haydon-wick-summer-spectacular/.