Community News: High Sheriff Launches Fund for Cheshire Charities

L-R:Zoe Sheppard, CCF CEO; Upcoming High Sheriff Alexis Redmond MBE;
Malcolm Ling, Organiser ofCheshire and Shropshire classic car events;
Sarah Callander Beckett, High Sheriff of Cheshire

A fund has been launched by the High Sheriff of Cheshire to benefit a number of charities that provide services to people living in rural areas.

High Sheriff, Sarah Callander Beckett, has set up the fund with Cheshire Community Foundation, of which she has recently been appointed a Trustee. Cheshire Community Foundation matches charitable donors with the causes that matter most in Cheshire and Warrington.

The High Sheriff’s fund will support two charities operating in rural areas - Overwater Wheelybus and Friends for Leisure.

Overwater Wheelybus – a charity in its last phase of fundraising - aims to improve the social experience and quality of life for local people with mobility issues by purchasing a bus that provides wheelchair transport to Audlem.

It will invite on board people from; care homes, private homes, schools catering for children with special needs and anyone else with accessible transport needs who would not usually have the opportunity to experience a trip on the water. The bus will give the occupants the ability to go shopping or meet up with friends and will also work with the Audlem Medical Practice to meet the needs of people who require accessible transport to attend medical appointments.

Friends for Leisure meanwhile, works to address the social isolation and loneliness often experienced by disabled children and young people, by providing inclusive leisure activities from which they are often excluded. The charity provides their own regular group activities, which rely heavily on volunteers, so that they can take part in community activities whilst also building strong relationships. The team will use the funds raised to expand their existing services and cater for those on their waiting list.

Both charities will benefit from the proceeds of a fundraising raffle during the annual High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, which will take place on 22^ndMarch.

The High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, held in partnership with the University of Chester, will this year be held at Chester Racecourse. It will host Cheshire’s leading entrepreneurs and business leaders and be a celebration of outstanding business achievement across private sector organisations of all shapes and sizes.

Sarah said: “Members of our community living in rural Cheshire can often find themselves disadvantaged due to the lack of services available locally.

“Poor internet connectivity, limited public transport, reduced access to sports and recreation and smaller numbers of support groups can lead to people across generations living in isolation, with limited options to improve their quality of life.

“We wanted to work with these people to give them a better quality of life and provide them with services they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to.”

Zoe Sheppard, Chief Executive of Cheshire Community Foundation, said: “We are very much looking forward to working with Sarah to build on the early successes of the Cheshire Community Foundation and change many more lives for the better.”

The Office of the High Sheriff, which is more than 1,000 years old, is an independent non-political Royal appointment for a single year.

For more information on The High Sheriff Awards for Enterprise, please visit: https://www.chester.ac.uk/hs/about