A charity helping homeless and vulnerable people across the district received a boost this week after fundraisers at a Harrogate school handed over £5,000 to help with the project’s running costs.
Parents, staff and pupils at Belmont Grosvenor School, based at Swarcliffe Hall, Birstwith, Harrogate, raised cash for Harrogate Homeless Project at a summer ball and a children’s skip-a-thon.
And this week, Geoff Webber, vice-chairman of the project’s trustees, dropped into the ‘outstanding’ school to pick up the cheque – along with two home-made steak pies to help feed the homeless at the charity’s Harrogate day centre, Springboard.
Co-educational prep school Belmont Grosvenor, set in 20 acres of grounds just three miles from Harrogate, adopted the Harrogate Homeless Project as their charity of the year for 2013.
A summer ball attended by parents, staff and friends of the school was a major fundraiser, while pupils took part in a sponsored skip-a-thon to boost the charity’s coffers further.
Geoff Webber, who picked up the cheque, along with the steak pies, said he was delighted with the school’s fundraising efforts.
Geoff Webber said: This is a real boost to our Springboard project which costs about £30,000 a year to run. The money raised by Belmont Grosvenor School has covered a big chunk of our annual running costs, which means a great deal to us.
Springboard, which is open between 10am and 2pm, feeds around 30 homeless and vulnerable people each day – and Mr Webber said the school’s home-made steak pies would be gratefully received.
The cash raised by Belmont Grosvenor School will go towards the charity’s day-to-day running costs, with a chunk being used to buy a large commercial freezer said Mr Webber.
Dawn Jennings, from Belmont Grosvenor School’s PTA said everyone at school was delighted the money would be put to immediate use and help local homeless and vulnerable people in Harrogate.
Dawn Jennings said: We wanted to help a local charity where the benefits would be immediate. The Springboard day centre does great work with the homeless and vulnerable in Harrogate and we are pleased we could help.
