Tag: Giving

We Love Lichfield Receives Big Donation

Our CEO Simon is also patron to the community fund We Love Lichfield which has received a £10,000 donation from the business trading arm of Lichfield District Council. Lichfield West Midlands Traded Services (LWMTS) has donated funds from its annual surplus as part of its commitment to give back to the local area.

 

LWMTS is the wholly owned trading company of Lichfield District Council. It exists to deliver high-quality services to residents on behalf of the council. It also shares its award-winning expertise with other councils and organisations across the country. What makes LWMTS unique is its model and its values. All surpluses are reinvested back into local public services with the ability to donate to good causes in the district.

 

Alex Farrell, Chair of LWMTS said, “I’m delighted to make this donation. LWMTS has had an excellent year where we have been able to make significant returns to Lichfield District Council which will, in turn, be used to benefit local people. In addition, we can make donations to organisations we feel make a difference across the district.

 

“We Love Lichfield has raised and distributed over £420,000 to more than 400 different groups since it started a decade ago. It specifically helps smaller groups, who may not receive the limelight, but are the bedrock of the local voluntary community.

 

“By making this donation to We Love Lichfield and their unique knowledge and connections in the local voluntary sector, we are maximising our reach and benefitting as many people as possible who make a difference across the district.”

 

Some of the organisations to receive We Love Lichfield grants over the years include Spark in Burntwood, Whittington Community Computer Club and Friends 2 Friends.

 

Esther Allen from Spark Burntwood said, “Our groups have received multiple grants from We Love Lichfield which has helped us to provide vital services to local people. Without grants from We Love Lichfield we wouldn’t have been able to do much of our work for the community.”

Simon Price, Patron of We Love Lichfield said, “Wow. A huge thank you for this kind donation which will have a massive, positive effect on local voluntary groups across Lichfield, Burntwood and the surrounding villages.

 

“My thanks also go to Lichfield District Council for entrusting We Love Lichfield in assisting them in their grant and Community Lottery funds. To have the council as a partner gives us a boost to strive even harder to make a difference across our district.”

 

Grant applications can be made at any time throughout the year and We Love Lichfield are always looking for groups to apply for the first time. Grant awards are made twice a year in the Summer and at Christmas. For more information, please visit our website www.welovelichfield.com where you can find all the details.

 

We Love Lichfield is one of the Community Foundation For Staffordshire and Shropshire’s place based funds.  It provides grants to a wide range of projects operating across the district of Lichfield. The fund considers applications from local groups in need twice a year. It raises money and then the returns are given away. Companies and individuals make up the bulk of the donors to the fund, either through direct donations, or by fundraising.

 

Since it started over a decade ago, We Love Lichfield has given away just over £420,000 in 428 grants to 228 organisations.

 

All the money raised is invested through an endowment fund in line with charity commission guidelines. The financial return from the fund is then distributed as small grants across the area. The beauty of this model is that it will provide a source of sustainable funding that can be used for grants long in to the future.  It’s almost like a pension scheme set up to support community and voluntary groups across Lichfield. Individuals and businesses can raise money for We Love Lichfield. They can fund raise or they can donate via Enthuse here: https://cfss.enthuse.com/welovelichfield

 

Picture is Simon receiving a cheque from LWMTS’s Alex Farrell together with WLL and LWMTS representatives

Richard Winterton Raise £1K for We Love Lichfield and £500 For St Marys

Can we say a massive thanks to Richard Winterton Auctioneers who raised £1000 for We Love Lichfield and £500 for the Guild of St Mary’s courtesy of some special lots at their Watch & Designer Sale on Monday, 15 July.

 

The sale had three charity lots – a 2019 ICC World Cup England jersey, fully signed by the England team at Edgbaston before the semi-final against Australia; a cricket bat signed by cricketer Graeme Swann and sports broadcaster Pat Murphy; and a limited edition RAF Red Arrows 2019 artwork signed by ‘Red 1’ through to ‘Red 10’ and the aerobatic team’s commanders, donated by Michael Mullarkey and Michael’s Menswear.

 

These resulted in a total of £500 for the We Love Lichfield fund.

 

A percentage from the entire auction is also to be donated to We Love Lichfield, with a matched amount going to The Guild Of St Mary’s – £500 each.

 

In the past year, Richard Winterton Auctioneers has already raised more than £3,000 for We Love Lichfield. The latest amount sees the family firm well on the way to the £5,000 milestone.

 

Introducing the auction, We Love Lichfield patron Simon Price said the fund is ‘giving money back to our community’.

“Volunteers are wonderful people,” he said. “Lichfield is full of volunteers and you don’t realise how wonderful these people are until you actually meet them. Lichfield is getting bigger, funding is getting smaller and the pressure on voluntary groups is just growing and growing and growing. We raise money, we invest money and we give that money back. It’s like a pension fund for the future – the pot never gets smaller.

 

“We aim to give £50,000 a year away and [since the fund started] already we have helped 154 different voluntary organisations in the district of Lichfield. By Christmas 2019 we will have given back to our own community £200,000. But we do need to do more – it’s about helping our own community, our own people.”

 

Richard Winterton said: “We Love Lichfield is such an important fund which helps so many small local voluntary-run clubs and projects which so often provide an absolute lifeline in their community. It is a real privilege to be involved in this wonderful organisation and we are delighted to have been able to help.”

 

Love Is In The Air Thanks To We Love Lichfield

The value of district charity We Love Lichfield to our young people was displayed at its summer giveaway at The George Hotel last Friday (June 27) with Arthur Price CEO hosting the event as patron of the Fund

Paralympic hopeful Chelsey Dixon was presented with £1,000 to help her buy a training boat. The 22-year-old is one of Britain’s best para-canoeists and has been selected for the Team GB squad and aims to represent her country in next year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Chelsey told fellow recipients, guests and patrons of We Love Lichfield of her terminal cancer diagnosis at the age of 14, how a massive tumour had to be removed from her right thigh, further tumours had to be removed from her brain and lungs and how she was told her dreams of  a sporting career were over.

 

But she went on to explain how the chemotherapy she received was successful and she was able to become active again, eventually trying different sports before settling on canoeing. Chelsey, who had previously played football for West Bromwich Albion, found a sport that she loved and began competing. She only took up canoeing two and-a-half years ago yet, following her international debut last August at the ICF Sprint Canoe World Championships in Portugal, she is now the ninth fastest women in the world in her event. Chelsey thanked the We Love Lichfield Fund for the donation which will be vitally important to her training.

 

Other impressive young people attended the event including The Friary High School’s head boy Niall Preston and head girl Hattie Rumsey. They presented £1,000 to We Love Lichfield, money which the school raised through a variety of events including non-uniform days.

 

We Love Lichfield patron Simon Price paid tribute to Chelsey and thanked Niall and Hattie for the Friary School’s donation. Simon also thanked all of the volunteers throughout the Lichfield district who enable our community to function.

 

Last Friday’s presentation saw thousands of pounds given to good causes. They are Beacon Park Tennis, Buddy Bag Foundation, Burntwood Pathway Project, Burntwood Town Council, Gartmore Riding For The Disabled Association Group, Guitar Group 1 – Lichfield U3A (AKA – Don’t Fret), Kendall & Wall Charitable Trust, Lichfield Arts, Lichfield Cruising Club2000 Ltd, Lichfield Greenhill Bower C.I.C, Lichfield Society of Artists,  Open Door of Hope, The Boys’ Brigade 1st Chasetown, The Lichfield and District Live at Home Scheme, The Lichfield and District Live at Home Scheme and Wildfire Folk.

Simon Price also wished to thank The George Hotel for hosting the presentation and for offering everyone ice cream refreshment. Thanks also to Andy Lightbown at David Lloyd Lichfield for the club’s contribution to the goodie bags.

 

For more information about We Love Lichfield visit www.welovelichfield.com