News Categories: Charity

Summer fundraising for St David’s Hospice

We have been busy fundraising since April 2016 for St David’s Hospice, our chosen charity for the year.

St David’s Hospice is a local charity providing hospice care to adult patients across Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey. It currently costs over £2 million to deliver the services at St David’s Hospice. Over 84% of the charities income is generated through community fundraising.

So far we have raised £2,094. This is how we have done it…

Dragon Boat challenge for local adult hospice was ‘oarsome’!

One of the St David’s Hospice’s biggest events in their calendar is the Dragon Boat Challenge. The popular fundraising event took place at Llyn Padarn, Llanberis with four 40ft Hong Kong Dragon Boats racing to the finish line, whilst raising thousands in the process.

This year North Wales Housing staff took up the challenge and had three boats racing at the event! Over 25 teams took part this year and reigning champions Pro Build, Llandudno were crowned the winners in the final heats.

The winner for us though was the Maintenance Team who topped a brilliant time of 1minute 3 seconds.

Summer Fate for North Wales Housing

We set up shop and hosted two stalls at the St David’s Hospice Summer Fete on Saturday 30th July. Set in the grounds of the Hospice (Abbey Rd, Llandudno) there were lots of fun games and stalls to browse through. And the sun came out to say hello!

North Wales Housing stalls, offering hook the duck, roll the coin or event guess the name of the teddy.

Coffee for cash at Cae Garnedd

Residents at Cae Garnedd, our extra care scheme in Bangor, have been busy organising a coffee morning and raffle to fundraise for St David’s Hospice. They raised a total of £72. Well done Jane Ellis who won the raffle, winning a hamper.

Do you have any ideas how we can fundraise? Contact us on [email protected] or call 01492 572727.

Sleeping Bags and Tents urgently wanted

St Mary’s hostel in Bangor provide a gate service to homeless people in Bangor. This service provides crucial support to help the homeless stay warm and dry, offering food, clothing items and emergency camping provisions such as tents and sleeping bags.

This service relies on donations to keep going.

We do not have any tents or sleeping bags left at the moment. With cold weather fast approaching this is worrying situation.

If you have any spare sleeping bags or tents please donate them. You can drop them off at St Mary’s Hostel, Love Lane, Bangor or contact 01248 362211 for alternative arrangements.

Help give homeless people of Bangor a Christmas this year

We think everyone deserves a Christmas. That’s why we are launching this Christmas appeal, to make sure that homeless people of Bangor get a Christmas they deserve this year too.

North Wales Housing has two homeless hostels in Bangor, St Mary’s and Pendinas. All year round the hostels rely solely on donations to help keep the service going.

This Christmas we want to do more; we want to offer the homeless people of Bangor a Christmas of their own. We want to be able to offer them a Christmas meal and gifts; things that we take for granted.

How can you help?

To make this happen we would appreciate your help and support by:

• Donating items such as practical gifts, food, warm clothing and blankets

• Donating money so we can purchase these items

• Sharing posts from our Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness.

Where do you donate?

You can drop off your donations at St Mary’s Hostel (Love Lane, Bangor LL57 2TE) or at our Bangor Office (30 Dean Street, Bangor. LL57 1UR). Or contact us on 01248 362211 or [email protected] and we can organise to pick them up. For more information or posters, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime.

Thank you for your support, your generosity would be most gratefully received.

Staff get on their bike for Wales Air Ambulance

A group of North Wales Housing staff and friends got on their bike and cycled a gruelling 45 miles across Anglesey in aid of Wales Air Ambulance on Sunday 12th July.

The riders completed the challenge in an impressive 4 hours, crossing the welcoming finishing line in Aberffraw, having cycled through some of Anglesey’s finest countryside.

Staff also gave up their free time on the Saturday, offering their bag packing services in Tesco’s, Bangor, all part of an organisation wide effort to fundraise for Wales Air Ambulance.

Paul Diggory, Chief Executive:

Each year we select a charity to fundraise for and this year we choose Wales Air Ambulance. It’s such a worthwhile charity and staff have been extremely supportive.

We’ve already raised over £2,000, way over half our fundraising target. It’s been a real team effort to fundraise though, staff have given up their spare time to do things such as the bike ride and the bag packing.”

Wales Air Ambulance Fundraising Manager, Lynne Garlick, said:

We’re amazed at the hard work the team at North Wales Housing have put in to raise money for us! From spending their time bag packing to taking on a cycle challenge, we really appreciate their support.

We rely entirely on donations to raise over £6 million needed per year to fund the cost of our service, and the money raised will help to keep our helicopters in the air.”

You can keep up to date about our fundraising on Facebook or via our JustGiving page . You can also donate online via our JustGivingpage .

NWH raise £5,000 for hospice Tŷ Gobaith

We are pleased to announce they have raised an amazing total of £5,023.21 for Tŷ Gobaith, our charity of choice for 2014.

The majority of the money was raised through the 40:40 challenges that took place on 12th July 2014. Over 50 staff took part in the day, which was co-ordinated by Emma Williams. The day included a 40 mile cycle, 10 mile walk, 10 mile run and a 1 mile family walk.

Paul Diggory, North Wales Housing Chief Executive explains:

We choose a different charity every year. Last year was extra special as we were celebrating our 40th birthday and staff really got stuck in. This is reflected in how much we raised – it was much higher than the £3,000 target that we set ourselves.

Tŷ Gobaith is a really important charity for the region and we are proud to be able to support the charity and help children, young people and their families from North Wales.”

Tŷ Gobaith, the only children’s hospice in North Wales – provides care and support to local life threatened and life-limited babies, children, young people and their families.

Tŷ Gobaith’s Fundraising Manager, Sarah Kearsley-Wooller, added:

We are indebted to all the staff from North Wales Housing for investing all their energies in organising their challenges and events, which have culminated in raising such a substantial sum.

Each year we receive approximately one month’s Government funding to support our work. For the other 11 months of the year we are funded completely by donations and fundraising. Without the help of supporters such as North Wales Housing, we simply couldn’t exist.”

North Wales Housing’s charity for 2015 is Wales Air Ambulance, read story here.

North Wales Housing pledge support for Wales Air Ambulance

North Wales Housing has announced its support for Wales Air Ambulance, undertaking a range of charitable initiatives and challenges to help raise money.

The announcement was made by NWH Chief Executive, Paul Diggory, at the annual conference.

Wales Air Ambulance is an all Wales charity providing emergency air cover for those who face life-threatening illness or injuries. They don’t receive direct funding and all money is raised through charitable donations, fundraising events and membership of our in-house Lifesaving Lottery.

Paul Diggory, NWH’s Chief Executive explains why they choose the charity:

“Each year we choose a charity to support and fundraise for. We put this year’s choice to staff and the Wales Air Ambulance was a clear choice. The work that they do is the difference between life and death in most cases.”

“They don’t receive any direct funding and all their money is raised through charitable donations and fundraising, so we want to help them achieve the massive £6 million they need to raise every year to operate the service.”

Medwyn Hughes, Conwy Co-ordinator for Wales Air Ambulance attended Staff Conference and talked about the brilliant work they do and how money raised by NWH will make a difference.

Medwyn said:

“It is through support like this that we are able to keep Wales’ helicopters flying and helping people in their most difficult hour of need. We’re very grateful North Wales Housing voted for Wales Air Ambulance, their pledge will help to save many lives.”

Fundraising got to a flying start at the staff conference, raising £320.25 through raffle sales, a NWH tenant busking and other general donations.

The next fundraiser will be a Walkathon organised by Menter Mon, held in Anglesey on Sunday, 24th of May. NWH staff will be walking the half and full marathon, donating entry fee and sponsors to Wales Air Ambulance.

Help Bangor homeless as winter chill sets in

St Mary’s homeless hostel in Bangor has launched their annual Winter appeal to support rough sleepers in and around the town as the cold season begins. Find out how you can help.

The hostel provides help and support for local homeless men and women, providing accommodation for up to 13 people. Always full to capacity St Mary’s also supports rough sleepers they are unable to accommodate, providing them key items including sleeping bags, tents, blankets and clothing, which are critical for survival as the cold weather sets in.

Despite quite a haul of tents and sleeping bags from the goods leftover at Wakestock and Festival No. 6 this year the hostel are still short on some essential items.

St Mary’s Scheme Manager Rob Parry said:

“This year we’re especially short on items such as tents, sleeping bags and blankets. We rely on donations such as this to provide people with protection from poor weather. Without these, we would not be able to help those that most need it.”

Rob added:

“None perishable and tinned foods are also extremely welcome at this time of the year. We are grateful for all donations, no matter how big or small and every item helps”

Anyone wishing to make a donation please call in at St Mary’s Hostel on Love Lane in Bangor or any of the North Wales Housing Offices in Bangor or Llandudno Junction. Or call 01248 362211 to discuss further.

Taking home the waste

It’s that time of year again when friends and staff of North Wales Housing visit the Abersoch festival site of Wakestock to collect a haul of abandoned camping equipment that will be redistributed to rough sleepers during the winter months.

For the fourth year running, the team managed to gather 69 tents, 48 sleeping bags, 45 roll mats, 15 air beds, 22 camping chairs, 10 pairs of wellies plus cool bags, ground sheets, blankets, inflatable pillows, picnic mats, tent pegs and trainers!!

A mix of homeless service users, staff and friends of St Marys and North Wales Housing joined in to bring home the goods, which will provide a lifeline for many rough sleepers in North Wales later on in the year.

The annual collection continues to fill a significant gap in NWH’s Supported Housing budget, enabling the association to provide essential winter packs that are distributed at the gates of the Bangor-based hostel.

Kerry Jones of North Wales Housing said:

“The Wakestock event is a brilliant opportunity for us to collect unwanted, quality camping equipment that’s largely been used for that one event. We take our haul back to the hostel, clean it down and redistribute it in the Winter when rough sleepers, unable to find a bed for the night, are in need of extra support and shelter.”

A typical winter pack is made up of a tent, sleeping bag, blanket, cooling equipment and tinned food stuff. The packs are largely distributed at the gates of St Mary’s hostel in Bangor as the cold weather sets in.

She added:

“We’d like to once again thank the organisers of Wakestock for facilitating the day and allowing us on site. Their left over waste is once again going to a great place!”

“We are however still missing some basic essentials and are in real need of tracksuit tops and bottoms, trainers and boots, socks and underwear, mostly for men. If anyone has any unwanted items that they are able to donate, please call in to St Mary’s homeless hostel in Bangor where we’d be glad to accept any donations.”

NWH 40 year challenge raises cash for charity

An ambitious team of sporting enthusiasts at NWH have completed the NHW 40/40 challenge!

Four events took place across the association marking the ’40/40 challenge’ all of which have been co-ordinated by Emma Williams of NWH. Over 50 staff from North Wales Housing took part in the day that included a 40 mile cycle, 10 mile walk, 10 mile run and a one mile family walk. A total of £1900 was raised for the associations chosen charity Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospice.

Paul Diggory Chief Executive of North Wales Housing, who took part in the ten mile run, said:

“We chose to make the event as an association-wide one that everybody could join in with and included a range of sporting challenges. We’ve had a lot of support from our staff as well as our sponsors and are delighted with the brilliant grand total raised!”

The cyclists set off at 9am from The Pavilion in Rhyl, the walkers at 11am from Llys y Coed Extracare home in Llanfairfechan, the runners at 1pm also from Llys y Coed, and the family walk at 2pm just outside Bangor.

The group joined together late afternoon at Bangor Swimming Pool where they’re showered before heading off to Llys y Coed for a wonderful barbecue organised by scheme manager Cheryl Haggas and the catering staff there.

Paul added:

“Not only did this day prove to be a wonderful fundraiser but it also gave us the chance to celebrate our 40th birthday as an association and what better way to do it than this! Well done everyone who took part.”

Say it with socks

Homeless hostel St Mary’s in Bangor has launched its sock appeal!

The hostel has found that socks are one of the least donated items, yet are one of the most needed. Wear and tear of footwear is common for those sleeping rough and to help keep both homeless men and women warm and free from infection, a strong supply of socks is essential.

Barbara Fitzsimmons of North Wales Housing-managed hostel, St Marys said:

“Strangely we get very little socks when we receive donations and constantly have to buy new where possible. I think that this is just an item that is overlooked as people tend to focus on the bulkier items such as coats and jumpers.”

She added:

“Any unwanted presents are ideal or perhaps people may be able to spare a pair from a multipack purchase. So many people who donate actually buy from new and are so generous – we would ask these people who may be considering supporting our service users to think feet, and socks in particular!”

Donations can be made at the gates of the hostel on Love Lane in Bangor.

As part of St Marys drive to ensure service users have access to warm clothes and outdoors equipmemet, teams from North Wales Housing will be once again venturing to the Wakestock festival post event to collected any leftover usables.

Clothing, footwear and camping equipment that has been left will be reclaimed by the team, taken back to the hostels, cleaned and stored in preparation for the winter months when supplies are at their lowest.

Barbara said:

“The Waksetock collection is a brilliant way of having access to a huge amount of really useful items that help our rough sleepers to get through Winter. Our team of volunteers will spend the day wading through the rubbish to sift our some gems for us to be able to use and share with service users.”