Date published: 06 September 2017 by Jessica Homer
Dedicated Harold Wood charity shop volunteers today launched a campaign raise the £50,000 needed to reach the milestone of raising of £1 million since they started fundraising for Rainbow Trust 24 years ago.
Pauline Obee MBE and volunteers who run the Harold Wood charity shop were joined by Councillor Linda Van den Hende, the Mayor of Havering, who officially launched the campaign, along with shop staff, adjoining shop keepers and local families supported by Rainbow Trust.
The group first began after Pauline, heard a radio interview in 1993 with Rainbow Trust’s founder Bernadette Cleary. Inspired by what she heard, she and friend, the late John Penrose, established the Harold Wood Friends Group to support the charity. The group started fundraising when they were offered an empty shop for three months and initially held jumble sales in the shop two days a week. Now, 24 years later, the shop and friends group are still going strong having raised £950,000 to date.
Patron and volunteer ,Pauline Obee MBE, said:
“I feel proud of the success of the shop and the amount the volunteers have contributed to the Rainbow Trust since the Harold Wood shop first opened 24 years ago. I am delighted that we have nearly raised £1 million for Essex families who have a child with a serious illness. It has been a fantastic place to volunteer and we are a great friendly team of committed, conscientious and compassionate volunteers. It is thanks to all the volunteers’ hard work, that we have been able to launch our ‘One Million Campaign’ and we will continue to strive to raise as much money as we can for the work of the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity ”
Rainbow Trust Volunteer Development Manager, Andrea Kelley, said:
“I would like to sincerely thank the Harold Wood volunteers who have raised an incredible £950,000 during their 24 years of support for Rainbow Trust. Thanks to them we have been able to support more Essex families caring for a life threatening or terminally ill child. We hope this campaign will encourage the local community to dig deep and help them reach their amazing fundraising milestone of £1 million.”
To help the Harold Wood volunteers reach the £1 million mark, you can support their crowdfunding campaign at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Harold-wood-shop