Recognising the need to bring festive cheer to some of the elderly, vulnerable and needy of our community Crickhowell Rotary Club and Rotary Ladies joined forces with Crickhowell Volunteer Bureau and The Salvation Army this Christmas, in two initiatives with similar aims.

In the first, the Club provided funding and manpower to create 50 festive hampers delivered to people in need in the Crickhowell community before Christmas.

The Crickhowell Volunteer Bureau, led by Kerry Crosfield co-ordinated the organisation and delivery of the hampers. The project was assisted by additional support from Morrisons Supermarket, suppliers of the hamper food.

In the second, Rotary President Dave Thomas’ wife Barbara chose ‘The Salvation Army’ as the charity to benefit from the proceeds of this year’s carol singing effort in Crickhowell on December 18.

Being well known for their ability to penetrate real need in a community, Nick Pryor of The Abergavenny Corps of the Salvation Army commented “We are especially grateful to Crickhowell Rotary Ladies group for choosing us this year; demand for our assistance has risen once again as we will be supporting locally over 250 families with food this Christmas and providing gifts for over 430 children”.

The carol singing raised just over £320 for The Salvation Army in just under two hours.

The fundraising for this cause is still open. Please visit:- https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/abergavennysa

President of Crickhowell Rotary Club said: “We are delighted to have been able to add festive cheer for so many local families and children this Christmas!”

He expressed gratitude on behalf of the club to all those who have given generously to Club’s Charity initiatives in 2021 in what was an especially difficult year for so many people.

Continuing he observed, “many people are depressed by the daily diet of bad news of all kinds, deprivation, poverty, conflict, war and their wider effects. People wonder what they can do to make a difference? Joining an organisation like Rotary which acts locally and globally adds up to one massive difference!”

He invited anyone with such motivation to consider joining Crickhowell Rotary pointing out that “joining offers the opportunity to make that difference, while at the same time accessing a wide and varied social life through the general activities of the club”.

For more information about the club and the wider organisation please visit Rotary Club of Crickhowell Facebook page or the website:- https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=925

Readers interested in joining should contact Membership Secretary by email in the first instance:-

Mr Kevin Phillips at [email protected]