Good Causes

VOLUNTEERS are working hard in preparation for the launch of the Addlestone Foodbank.

It is hoped the new project, which is being led by Beacon Church, will help families in Runnymede who are desperately short of food and experiencing financial hardship.

THE Salvation Army in Addlestone is appealing for gift donations to make sure everyone in the town has a happy Christmas.

IT HAS been a tough 30 days for the male staff at the River Bourne Club in Chertsey.

PUPILS at The Grange Community Infant School in New Haw have raised a staggering £6,600 for one of their classmates - just by wearing Wellington boots.

DEDICATED staff from a Chertsey gym used pedal power to raise money for Sport Relief at a supermarket last Thursday and Friday (October 27 and 28).

Iain Hayes, 18, a trainer at the River Bourne Club, sacrificed a day off work to join colleague Sofia Hernandez, 19, to cycle on an exercise bike at the Tesco store in Addlestone.

ON Friday a special golf day will be held at Abbeymoor Golf Club in Green Lane to raise money in memory of a former Chertsey teacher.

The event has been organised by Salesian School.

A spokesman for the school said: "In memory of our friend and colleague, Steve Bell, Salesian School are hosting a Golf Classic on the evening of Friday, July 15 to raise money for Macmillan Cancer support.

"It will be played at Abbeymore Golf Club and will be 9 holes. All abilities are invited to play at a cost of £20 and there will be an awards ceremony afterwards. Lots of our teachers are playing.

"We are looking for sponsorship of between £70-£100 per hole and are looking for suggestions of any local buisnesses who may be interested.

"Their name will be printed in the programme and at the hole.

"If you would like to play or sponsor a hole please contact Paul Byrce pbyrce@salesian.surrey.sch.uk or phone 01932 582545."

There will be two give blood sessions held at Chertsey Hall in Heriot Road on Thursday, June 23.

The first session will take place between 12.45pm and 3.30 pm and the second session starts at 5pm, finishing at 7.30pm.

THE first phase of redevelopment at Ottershaw village hall has finally started after fund-raisers collected more than £120,000.

The trustees of the village hall charity collated the money through fund-raising events by local people and businesses as well as grants from Surrey County Council, Runnymede Borough Council and the Chertsey Combined Charity.

The development will see a new toilet block and meeting room built into an extension on the exiting site, in Brox Road.

A grant application is also in for further extension; the result of this is due to be known by the middle of November.

Charity trustee Peter Binns, from Ottershaw, said: "The hall is old and in need of redevelopment and refurbishment that it cannot afford to fund through its own profits.

A GROUP of children born within the fallout zone of one of the world's worst ever nuclear disasters visited a luxury health resort in Ottershaw to help boost their immune systems.

The children, from Mogilev, in Belarus, are currently spending four weeks with families in the UK. They visited Foxhills Luxury Hotel & Resort, in Stonehill Road, Ottershaw, as part of a special 'treat day'.

The 15 young people were all born just 250km from the location of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that killed 28 people in 1986. The fallout later displaced more than 350,000 men, women and children.

Marc Hayton, managing director of Foxhills, said: "It is wonderful to be able to help give these children a great start in life and a chance to have fun.

A LOCAL children's charity has picked up a £1,500 donation from Foxhills Hotel, in Ottershaw.

The Children With Special Needs Foundation collected the money after a fund-raising drive by Kerry Lagden and the gym team at the country club.

It is the latest in a long line of money making events in aid of the Chobham-based charity that supports individuals, groups and schools, helping them to buy equipment, holidays and tuition.

Marc Hayton, managing director of Foxhills, took over as patron for the charity earlier this year after the death of the previous patron, his father Ian.