Illness at one charity turned into a bonus for another good cause on July 13th.
Kristen Lindop was due to tell the audience at Wells SOUP about Children’s World, but was laid low by a bug and had to stay at home.
So her charity’s place at the grant-giving lunch was taken by Jude Glide who had only come to chat about her good cause, Wells Beat Diabetes, while the audience’s votes were counted.
At SOUP, which is run by Wells Independents, four charities tell their stories and the one getting most votes is presented with the biggest of the four cheques.
Jude, a nurse who works in Wells, told how she is on a mission to prevent diabetes and support those with the disease.
It is on the increase fuelled by obesity and misleading information on food packaging, said Jade who collected a £150 cheque which will be used for diabetes support groups.
But the biggest cheque – for £400 – was presented to Sam James of Hope For Tomorrow, a cancer charity which works to bring cancer treatment closer to home, for example by bringing their treatment bus to West Mendip Hospital to avoid patients having to travel to Taunton.
The cheques were all presented by Ross Young of Wells Independents with one for £150 going to SODA (Society for Disabled Artists) whose Gill Kelly told the audience in the Connect Centre how they were able to get disabled artists out of the house and provide opportunities to use art as therapy.
The other £150 was given to Sustainable Wells whose Sarah Briton explained how their committed volunteers were doing all they could with initiatives like Plastic Free Wells and Freecycle events to reduce carbon emissions and keep global temperatures below catastrophic levels.
“We are extremely grateful to Jenny Hodgson and Rob Parnell of the Acupuncture and Osteopathic Practice for match-funding the money on the door,” said Wells Independents city councillor Philip Welch. “Thanks to their generosity we were able to give away £850.”
The audience also heard from Claire Hak of Heads Up who told how the mental health charity was using the £400 given at April’s SOUP to provide Silent Disco sessions where the music is played through wireless headphones so clients can focus solely on the sounds.
The power of music can help those living with dementia to recollect distant memories and feelings.
The two choices of soup were made in the Blue School’s catering kitchen, the rolls were donated by Burns the Bread, the wine by Sante, beer and other drinks by Morrisons, vegetables from Waitrose, while Micky from Wells market gave the flowers.
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