Community Links Bolster Salisbury Care Home’s Year of Help for City Youth Project
More than £1,000 has been raised by residents and staff at a Salisbury care home for city charity The Bridge Youth Project.
Colten Care’s Braemar Lodge collected the sum from activities such as a summer garden party, selling crafts handmade by residents, a Christmas market and produce and clothes-swap sales.
The year of fundraising was celebrated with a get-together and handover of £1,028 at the Stratford Road home attended by charity representatives.
It was an opportunity to reflect on how connections between the charity and home have grown in recent years.
One of the founders of the Bridge Youth Project back in 1994, Neville Jennings, lived at Braemar Lodge and suggested that fellow residents consider it as a charity to support.
Another founder, Gaye Ridout, is the mother of Braemar Lodge gardener Sarah Ridout while Yvonne Ballard, wife of the home’s Companionship Team Leader Graham Ballard, is a Bridge volunteer.
Gaye and Neville’s widow Daphne joined Bridge Director Alex Ewing for the handover.
After speaking to residents about the work of the Bridge, Alex said: “We rely heavily on the kindness of supporters such as the wonderful residents at Braemar Lodge.
“We have been blown away by their generosity and are simply thrilled with the amazing amount of money they have raised in the past year.”
The Bridge is a Christian charity with a team of more than 30 staff and volunteers who work in around 25 primary and secondary schools in the Salisbury area.
The aim is to raise young people’s aspirations and resilience through mentoring, emotional literacy and courses in social skills and wellbeing.
Also addressing residents at the handover was Gladys Nyirongo, a Year 10 student from Sarum Academy School, who highlighted the benefits of mentoring and support for school pupils.
Braemar Lodge chose the project as its main charity for 2022-23 under a Colten Care policy of enabling residents at all 21 of its homes to support good causes in the community.
Braemar Lodge resident Catherine Brighty said: “The Bridge does such great work and we are pleased to support it.”
Home Manager Jackie Cash, who presented the cheque, said: “Neville was a resident who was loved and respected by his peers and staff alike. When he suggested that the Bridge would be an ideal charity for us to support we all agreed wholeheartedly.”
