
THE High Sheriff of Staffordshire’s three chosen charities have all benefited from a donation of nearly £4,000 after a successful fundraising night.
Ben Robinson MBE DL became High Sheriff in April and chose three charities he is closely connected with as the major beneficiaries during his year in office.
A total of £5,821 was raised at a special dinner held at Burton’s Apne Restaurant with the funds doubled by a donation from the Staffordshire Community Foundationabout:blank
Ben is an Honorary Director and a Trustee at Burton Addiction Centre. The charity plays a vital role in breaking the cycle of addiction and offering people a pathway into a better life. Since 1998 it has provided drug and alcohol rehabilitation for hundreds of people.
He is President of Burton YMCA, which provides a supportive and safe environment for those people who have the misfortune to become homeless. The charity provides food parcels for those in need, low-cost affordable items for homes as well as counselling services. The charity is a key supporter of the most vulnerable people in our society.
His third chosen charity is the Burton Albion Community Trust which is the charity arm of Burton Albion Football Club where Ben is the Chairman. The charity has been making a massive impact in the community for more than a decade, undertaking projects in education, health and wellbeing, disability and employability. The charity’s pandemic response included the setting up and running of the Pirelli Stadium Vaccination Centre where over 400,000 life-saving covid jabs have been administered.
Each charity has now received a cheque for £3,881.
Ben said: “Making a positive impact on the lives of people has been something I have been passionate about all my life, having grown up in Burton and seen how hard life can be for people through no fault of their own. During my time as High Sheriff I have already met a large number of people who are invested in helping the community and I’m delighted to be able to support these three great charities who are dear to my heart.
“I want to thank Mr Azmal Hussain of the Apne Restaurant and everyone who attended and supported the event and to Staffordshire Community Foundation for their support.”
Leanne Macpherson, Head of Programmes at Staffordshire Community Foundation, said: “We are very proud to have fund matched the money raised at the event and to support three incredible charities that do fantastic work. We support local charities and grass roots organisations, and we work closely with the High Sheriff who plays such an important role in Staffordshire.”
Paul Laffey collected the cheque on behalf of Burton YMCA.
He said: “I’m quite scared at the rapid rise in need I have seen for our services. In the first five months of this year, we have distributed the same amount of food as all last year when we helped more than 3,000 families so donations like this are ever more important to us.”
Stephanie White, Business Manager, accepted the cheque on behalf Burton Albion Community Trust.
She said: “Like Paul we have seen a growing need for our programmes. We are in the first year of delivering our current strategy and just coming to our impact report for the last 12 months we are working with 8,000 participants a week, running more than 60 projects in four different areas.”
Noreen Oliver MBE, founder of Burton Addiction Centre, said: “This donation has come with perfect timing as we are just about to open our charity shop in Coopers Square and this will go towards fitting it out so we are very grateful for the support.”