THE Wirral Globe is giving a much-loved charity in the area the chance to receive a share of a £16,000 cash giveaway.

Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing £128k in cash to support local charities across the country and we have a £16,000 share to distribute across the north west.

In August and September, we asked readers to decide where this money should be spent and after being inundated with nominations Byrne Avenue Baths has been put forward as the nominee for Wirral.

It joins a shortlist of nine other charities from across the region who will take a share of the available funding.

Now, we are putting the power to allocate the cash back into the hands of our readers.

We need your help to make sure that Byrne Avenue Baths receives a big share of the money.

For the next three weeks, you are invited to collect tokens printed inside the Wirral Globe which can then be sent to collections across the area or posted in to us.

Each token collected will be used to allocate the cash to the nominated charity – so if Byrne Avenue Baths collects 50 per cent of all tokens collected it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.

Byrne Avenue Trust was set up to “Rescue, Restore and Re-Open” the Baths as a community hub when the building closed unexpectedly in March 2009.

With the support of the local community, the Trust has saved the 1930s building from the bulldozers and brought it back to life.

Following substantial restoration the building is now open again as a sports and community centre.

Inside the newly-reopened 1930s building

Inside the newly-reopened 1930s building

Jane Richards became CEO after working as the project manager for the first part of the restoration for the past seven years.

She said: “The Trust feels very honoured to be the only Wirral charity to be selected this year.

“The Baths has only been open for a year and we are steadily introducing new activities.

“This funding will help us to put on a Buggy Club for toddlers and their grown-ups, and a new older persons activity club.”

A campaign to Rescue, Restore and Re-open Byrne Avenue Baths was launched when the building closed in 2009

A campaign to 'Rescue, Restore and Re-open' Byrne Avenue Baths was launched when the building closed in 2009

Find the first token in this week’s edition of the Wirral Globe and cast your vote before the deadline of Sunday, November 20.

You can post your tokens or drop them off at collection points which can be located at the following places:

  • Asda, Oliver Street, Birkenhead, CH41 6HH
  • Tesco Superstore, 212A Bebington Road, Birkenhead, CH42 4QF
  • Sainsbury’s, 342A Woodchurch Road, Birkenhead, CH42 8PQ
  • Tesco Extra, Bidston Link Road, Bidston, CH43 7AA
  • Asda, Seaview Road, Wallasey, CH45 4NZ
  • Morrison’s, 25-45 Dee Lane, West Kirby, CH48 oQA
  • Sainsbury’s, Arrowe Park Road, Wirral, CH49 6QG
  • Tesco Superstore, Telegraph Road, Heswall, CH60 7SL
  • Asda, Croft Industrial Estate, Wilton Road, Bromborough, CH62 3RL

Here are all the finalists in the running for the £16,000 Gannett Foundation funding:

William’s Gift, Warrington

What they do: Support children and their families in hospital by providing various care packages.

The packages include: A little box of smiles, which are for children on longer term admissions and include items to cheer them up and entertain them during their stay in hospital. A little bag of help, which is essentially an emergency pack of essentials for parents who find themselves on an unexpected admission to hospital with their child. There are also activity packs and bravery packs which contain various items for staff to distribute on the wards as and when required.

What the money would be used for: To expand the care packages to include specific packs for ICU patients and families in the three hospitals the charity covers.

 

Willowbrook Hospice, Prescot

What they do: Willowbrook Hospice is an independent UK charity formed in 1993 to establish and create a local, specialist palliative care unit for the community.

What the money would be used for: The provision of health and wellbeing support for people living within our community living with a life-limiting illness. The hospice needs a virtual reality machine which will enable people living with acute pain to achieve some respite during VR delivery at drop-in clinics. The cost is in the region of £3,500 and has been proven to provide relief from pain.

 

NeuroMuscular Centre, Winsford

What they do: They provide essential services and specialist advice for people and families affected by neuromuscular conditions across Cheshire and beyond. They provide services that the NHS does not, including physiotherapy, training and development courses, young person support, advice, and ConnectUp social programmes, all of which support the physical and mental health of the community. 

What the money would be used for: The funds would help purchase new equipment for the therapies department, specifically for equipment that can be used in the neuromuscular gym - the only one in Europe! Much of the equipment used in the gym is specialised and cannot be bought 'off the rack' as is the case for regular gyms. Some of the equipment is custom built, ensuring it is safe and accessible for all who use it. The gym features more than a dozen items of accessible equipment to suit all needs, including resistance and cardiovascular equipment and can accommodate multiple users.

 

The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund/Cardiac Risk in the Young, Northwich

What they do: Prevent young sudden cardiac deaths through awareness, screening and research, and supporting affected families. The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund is ring fenced within the CRY Charity, raising money to fund the free heart screening of young adults aged 14-35 in Cheshire and the north west.

What the money would be used for: The money would fund future screening days in Cheshire and the north west. Each screening day costs the Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund £6,000 where 100 young adults aged between 14-35 are screened.

 

The Bury Project, Bury

What they do: Personal debt is a burden too great for many to cope with by themselves. It leads some to despair of life itself, and it prevents others from fulfilling their potential. For Bury residents experiencing such distress, the CAP Debt centre offers a free debt counselling and support service. The Bury Project charity runs the centre in partnership with national debt charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP). The debt coach and a team of committed trained volunteers guide clients through the complex process of dealing with debt, and then presents them with professional advice and ongoing support from CAP’s qualified debt advisors.

What the money would be used for: The cost-of-living crisis is inevitably causing an increase in the number of people seeking debt advice from supportive organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and Stepchange. Many of these organisations are operating at full capacity. This is also the case with Bury’s CAP Debt centre, with some clients having to wait three months to receive help. The restriction on current capacity is also resulting in some people being turned away. The Bury Project would like to increase capacity by 50% for 2023 and thereby assist more people. This will only be possible if more funding can be secured.

 

Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, Bolton

What they do: As a non-government funded charity, the main aim is to relieve the suffering and distress of those who become injured during outdoor activities or vulnerable adults/children who are missing/lost. They do this with a team of 70 volunteers who are available 24/7 regardless of weather conditions and personal commitment. Engaging with people from all walks of life, age groups, ethnicity, they also engage with the local community to educate them about hazards of the outdoors and how to stay safe and about how they provide unquestionable help to those in need.

What the money would be used for: The team needs waterproof jackets and trousers that are able to keep them warm and dry during their time outside in the worst weather conditions.  The current equipment has been in use for more than 20 years so needs replacing as it’s no longer waterproof. The clothing required is specialist clothing and specific to the needs of mountain rescue teams.

 

Credu connecting Carers, Llandrindod Wells

What they do: 1:1 family support working towards shared personal outcomes, creating sustainability and resilience for carers to be enable them to continue to care and lead the life that they chose. Community support links carers with their local community offering peer support and reducing isolation. Voice and influence is a carers forum, where carers have a voice to influence the services that affect them.

What the money would be used for: Adult carers need wellbeing courses to support them in their role. The Hive, in the centre of Welshpool, is a drop-in centre and needs funding and young people on the ASD spectrum need a virtual reality system. After being given some ground by a carer and their family for us to create a vegetable patch, it needs a shed.

 

Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, Royton

What they do: Provide palliative and end of life care. Support is given to patients and their families and services include community care, hospice at home, in patient unit admission, complementary therapy and bereavement support.

What the money would be used for: The grant would allow the hospice to buy specialist equipment and systems to enhance patient care, better monitor, understand their needs/symptoms and enable staff to deliver medication and/or communication with the patient and their loved ones, making their final days the best they can be. Providing comfortable facilities in the Hospice for patients and their loved ones, providing care packages and access to complimentary therapy and bereavement services as well as wellbeing sessions and pamper gifts.

 

East Lancashire Hospice, Blackburn

What they do: Provide palliative care to people in the communities of Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley who are suffering with a life limiting illness.

What the money would be used for: Towards the bathing service, to help patients who are not able to use their own bathroom facilities.

 

Cash for Charities T&Cs

Newsquest terms and conditions will apply where relevant to the grants process; please visit newsquest.co.uk/prize-competition-rules. Personal data will be used by Newsquest and its agents solely for the administration of the grants process and will not be shared with any third party; our general privacy notice is at: newsquest.co.uk/privacy-policy This campaign will be published in multiple Newsquest publications across this Newsquest region. The 10 charities chosen by the local editorial panel will be voted for by our readers. The value of the grant awarded to each of the 10 charities will be calculated pro rata according to their share of the vote. Only original voting coupons will be accepted, no photocopies. The cash grants will be sent by BACS transfer. Grants are conditional on completion of the relevant project and a successful nominee charity may be required to evidence its use of the grant. The top 10 charities selected for the vote will be contacted to provide additional information for entry into the readers’ vote; should this information not be provided within the timescale provided then the editorial panel will select an alternative charity. The charity must be registered with the Charities Commission and have not received a grant from the Gannett Foundation in the last two years.