Wednesday 15 July 2009

Community fund reaches milestone

A PORT fund set up last year is riding the crest of a wave after raising more than £100,000.
Felixstowe Port Community Fund, set up by a dozen shipping and transport-related companies in the town to support local causes, reached the milestone in little over a year.
“We are so proud of what has been achieved so far,” said fund chairman Derek Johnson, chief executive of Johnson Stevens Agencies.
“We have exceeded the £100,000 mark and already made a real difference to a number of organisations through the grants we have awarded to date.
“But this is just the beginning. All of the companies involved are totally committed to the fund and a series of fund-raising events are being planned. We look forward to taking the Felixstowe Port Community Fund to even greater heights.”
The Felixstowe Port Community Fund is managed by the Suffolk Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for Suffolk people.
“What is happening at Felixstowe is, we think, truly unique,” said Stephen Singleton, Suffolk Foundation chief executive.
“It is a community of businesses whose activities all revolve around the docks and some are competitors - but they have pulled together to create a significant amount of money and redistribute that back into the local community.
“The package that they are pulling together is remarkable, particularly in tough times. Without doubt, this could be a model for other ports - and also for all sorts of industries. It is a fantastic success.”
The first round of grant awards from the fund have included £10,000 to St. Felix Home for the Blind, £2,000 for the Disability Advice Service, £2,150 for the Anchor Trust's Oakwood House, to enable the trust to buy a new minibus, and £2,000 towards the Felixstowe Youth Development Group “Safe Place to Be” project.
Its most recent awards include £1,565 to Causton Junior School PTA for the purchase of a set of turbano drums for an outdoor classroom, £1,980 to Riding for the Disabled, for building maintenance and replacement equipment, £1,200 to Deben High School towards its after-school vegetable growing club, £2,000 to Felixstowe Volunteer Coast Patrol Rescue Service as a contribution towards the replacement of two lifeboat engines.
The Felixstowe Port Community Fund partners are: Cory Brothers, Coscon (UK) Ltd, Freightliner, Grange Shipping, Harwich Haven Authority, Johnson Stevens Agencies, MCP, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Pentalver Transport, the Port of Felixstowe and Wincanton.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/business/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=Business&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED13%20Jul%202009%2017%3A06%3A50%3A600

I was under the impression that the port had stopped all charitable donations while they were taking two days pay off us!
Anyone like to comment?

2 comments:

David Gledhill said...

Andy, We have made significant reductions in all of our donations or subscriptions to charitable organisations but for some,such as this one, where we made a long term commitment to provide support, we have not stopped our payments completely. This is a difficult call - whilst we are all finding things difficult because we are earning less there are always going to be those less fortunate than ourselves and I beleive it is right to donate something - even if it is less than before.

C Shift Tug rep said...

Many thanks for replying so swiftly Mr Gledhill. I too believe that an organisation as big as the port should give something back to the local community as you are doing.
I'm sure that you can also see what the port employees who read that article would be thinking.