Pudsey Helps Care Homes Get In The Saddle For Children In Need
Pudsey Bear paid a visit to a family-owned Lymington care home to help launch a fundraising extravaganza in aid of Children in Need.
The official mascot of the BBC’s annual charity appeal called in at Colten Care’s Belmore Lodge, joining participants at the start of a bike ride challenge and checking final preparations for a Spotty bus tour competition.
Amid some gentle rivalry, Belmore Lodge is vying with two other Colten Care Lymington homes, Court Lodge and Linden House, to see how much money they can raise.
Residents, families, friends, staff and volunteers are using stationary exercise bikes at each home to help ‘cycle Pudsey home’ to the BBC studios in Manchester by Children in Need night on Friday, 18 November. It’s an equivalent distance there and back of around 500 miles.
Colten Care is streaming the virtual journey live using three web cams so communities can check on progress in real time. Visitors to each home are warmly invited to pop in and hop on the saddle to help with the ride.
At the same time, one of Colten Care’s minibuses has been special decorated Pudsey-style with colourful spots. As it goes on its rounds in and around Lymington up to Children in Need night, members of the public are invited to take and send in a photograph of it with the chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Tablet in a prize draw.
The campaign’s grand finale is a ‘black tie and diamonds’ ball at Lymington Sailing Club for families and community contacts. The event, also taking place on Children in Need night, includes an auction of donated items.
Janie Pearman, Belmore Lodge Home Manager, said: “We all enjoyed Pudsey’s visit to help set us on our way with our Children in Need activities this year. It was lovely to welcome him and see the smiles on our residents’ faces. Our campaign offers a whole host of ways to get involved. We’ve got something for everyone. People can get active on the bikes, use their photographic skills for the bus competition or simply make a donation.”
Colten Care has a deliberate policy of linking its residents’ activities programmes with fundraising for charity. Last year, it raised nearly £4,000 for Children in Need. Colten Care owns and runs 20 care homes in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex.
To view the virtual bike ride, register for the Spot the Bus competition or make a donation, visit www.coltencare.co.uk/ChildrenInNeed.
