Helping us to help others

The last several months have been interesting and colourful for St.Helens Mind. As well as becoming the Mayoral charity for 2017-18 we became the Charity Partner of St.Helens Town AFC.

The Mayors Gala Dinner saw many local businesses, artists and entertainers donate auction and raffle prizes. The guests gave generously and we raised vital funds from ticket sales, an auction and raffle.

Other donations to the Mayor have come from individuals, and organisations such as Soroptomists. Not only has our gain been financial, it has provided us with publicity and the chance to raise awareness of our work in St.Helens.

We have also been the beneficiaries of donations from individuals who have run marathons, raised sponsorship for walks and other activities. We have seen many local pupils wear festive hats to school to raise money, others have made a donation instead of sending Christmas cards.

Local shoppers have helped us to set up the Sound of Mind Choir and equip our garden at the Mansion House site. They did this by voting with Tesco tokens and by buying carrier bags at a local One Stop Shop. A market stall , Habiknit, has our collecting tins to collect donations from their customers and we would welcome any other businesses who would like to do the same.

We became Charity Partners for St.Helens Town AFC and it has been a superb opportunity for us to raise our profile whilst offering support to the Club. We encourage our members and volunteers to attend and have enjoyed our time at home games. You may see our logo in the programme and on the training kit. Calendar sales have also been in support of our charity.

This year we have Ste Lingard 'Beating the Bounds' to raise funds, a local lady jumping from a plane on her 50th birthday and being sponsored to do so and a Triathlon Club planning activities to help us to continue or work.

We are occasionally bequeathed donations in the memory of a loved one. We understand that at a sad time, family members can gain some comfort by doing so.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, too numerous to list here, for their kindness and generosity.

We welcome any fundraising ideas, donations or interest in our work. You can find us at www.sthelensmind.org.uk, on Twitter @sthelensmind or even on our Facebook Page.

You can email us at admin@sthelensmind.org.uk or telephone 01744 647089

Gill Ellison

Manager