IPSWICH-BASED CRANE DONATES £18,000 TO THREE WORTHY LOCAL CHARITIES
February 7, 2013
On Friday 1 February representatives from Crane Building Services & Utilities presented cheques to Shooting Stars at Ipswich Academy, the Somersham Ward Support Group at Ipswich Hospital and the Braintree, Halstead & Witham Citizens Advice Bureau as part of the company’s annual charitable giving programme*.
Each year, Crane staff are invited to nominate local charities which have some form of affiliation to them and their families – particularly smaller ones that provide direct services to the needy and disadvantaged in the areas where they are based.
The Shooting Stars at Ipswich Academyis located close to the old Crane site at Nacton Road and subsequently generations of former Crane Ltd staff have attended the catchment high school. Shooting Stars is a registered charity run by two teaching staff and Learning Assistants and offers fun activities, social and life skills and a safe place to be. Kevin Healy, Director of Inclusion said: “We are overjoyed that Crane BSU has recognised the work of ‘Shooting Stars’ at Ipswich Academy. Many of the students attending the project access valuable social and emotional support from the staff and also learn the value of interacting with others in a constructive, safe and happy environment. ‘Shooting Stars’ provides a real incentive for some of our most vulnerable students to take a more active involvement in school and also develops their self-confidence. Our ethos at the Academy is to empower students by developing the self-confidence to engage in life-long learning.”
The Somersham Ward Support Group, a registered charity at Ipswich Hospital was nominated by two employees whose close family members have received treatment on the Somersham Ward which is the Cancer Unit at the Hospital.
Tony Baker, Hon. Treasurer of the Charity said “the aim of the Group is to try to reduce the trauma of treatment of cancer for the patient by any means which presents itself to us whether it be the provision of home comforts, re-furbishing day rooms and re-equipping them with recliner chairs, giving each patient an electronic bed or the provision of a children’s playroom. Donations are the major source of our income, these have reduced recently in the current climate and we are therefore very grateful to the Crane Fund for Widows and Children for their kind gift which is very much appreciated.”
The Braintree, Halstead & Witham Citizens Advice Bureauwas nominated by an employee whose wife is a Trustee and Vice Chair of the Charity. The Charity provides free and impartial advice to Braintree District residents on a range of issues including debt, housing and relationship services. The Crane donation will help to fund the Money Advice Service which helps clients to manage debt problems. Don Smith, Chairman said: “In these chastened times there has been a significant increase in both the number of requests for help we are receiving and in the complexity of those requests. Crane’s support will enable us to assist more clients in the resolution of their problems. Unfortunately there is generally an increase in the number of clients who need help in the months after Christmas and this donation is well timed to assist in that work.”
