GBCT’s latest newsletter is now available. You can read it below or download it, with full pictures, in PDF here.
- Latest News
UK Youth’s ‘GBCT Day’
UK Youth held their GBCT supported day on 2 June at their New Forest outdoor activity centre, following the grant announced in our May newsletter. The young people participating enjoyed a variety of activities over the course of the day, including raft building!
We’ve received fantastic feedback about the day from the team at UK Youth and the positive impact it has had upon the disadvantaged young people who attended. UK Youth’s event leaders said that they could really see the difference in the participant’s confidence, skills and ability to recognise, and also to believe in, their talents.
First Aid on the Water
GBCT has awarded a £2500 grant to Herts Boat Rescue, to fund their first aid equipment for 2017. Based in Hertfordshire, the charity is primarily a volunteer flood rescue team, part of the UK’s national flood response capability, but also uses its expertise and equipment to provide safety consultation and event cover for planned activities such as triathlons and other events in / around the water.
GBCT’s grant will ensure that the team have the first aid supplies they need to deliver life saving care. Specifically, it will cover: the provision of medical oxygen supplies, which is a vital resource for first responders treating seriously ill patients; replacement of defibrillator pads and batteries that are no longer serviceable, keeping these life saving machines operational; and replacement of general first aid supplies and kits.
We’ll keep you up to date with the team’s activities in future newsletters, but you can also follow them and hear their latest news via their Facebook page @hertfordshireboatrescue.
- Updates from Grant Recipients
In December GBCT made a grant of £3400 to Tonybee Hall’s Make It! Youth programme in London’s East End, enabling the involvement of Made in Hackney, a community kitchen, to teach the young people how to cook healthy food. Vivian and Maria Bairstow visited the participants during their community project in May and were delighted to see how successful the cookery had been. Split into small groups, cookery projects took place across all three days of the event. We hear that cooking ‘damper bread’ on the fire pit was the highlight for the participants!
- Recently Awarded Grants
The network of GBCT supported Community AEDs, supporting the provision of emergency aid, has been further expanded with two new grants.
Residents in the village of Ebberston in North Yorkshire have been given a £1000 grant towards the cost of their new AED, taking the number of GBCT supported AEDs in the Brompton-by-Sawdon area to six. The Defibrillator Group in the village is planning first aid training for the community when the AED enters service.
The second new grant is to the Sussex Wildlife Trust for £600. The grant will purchase one of the five new AEDs the Wildlife Trust is planning to buy for its ranger vehicles. Managing 30 nature reserves, often in remote areas, the programme is intended to ensure that AEDs are available to its conservation volunteer work parties and the public in these areas where medical help maybe quite some time away. The Wildlife Trust will be training all of their leaders in the use of AEDs as part of the roll-out and will be marking their vehicles to ensure members of the public know that an AED is available. To find out more about the Wildlife Trust visit www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk.
To support volunteering among young people and the enhancement of skills among young people a grant of £1000 has been made in support of the St John’s School Community Holiday. Located in Leatherhead, Surrey, the school runs an annual holiday week for 20 children and young people with special needs, also giving their parents a respite break. For the children and young people, the holiday is designed to ensure they have an enjoyable time by participating in a range of activities, that are both fun and challenging to them. To enable the holiday to take place, about 30 Sixth Form students from the school, both past and present, volunteer under the leadership of a volunteer senior team and a member of staff who is a child expert, ensuring the children can be managed and cared for appropriately. This is a great opportunity to encourage young people into volunteering, and indeed some of them return to volunteer in subsequent summers.
GBCT’s grant will fund the cost of the volunteers accompanying the children on a West End Theatre visit during the holiday. The Trustees selected this aspect of the holiday because George worked at the Theatre Royal in Windsor before starting at Durham, where he then continued his involvement with student theatre at St Aidan’s College. The holiday takes place in August and an update on the visit will follow in our autumn newsletter.
- Meet our Volunteers: Chris & Nicola Monk
Wedding bells have been ringing and we’re delighted to congratulate GBCT Trustee Chris Monk and fellow GBCT supporter Nicola Monk (née Helme) on their wedding in May.
Chris knew George from a young age and they later became reacquainted through St John Ambulance’s Medical Response Team in London. Chris works in IT and is one of our founding Trustees.
Nicola met George via St John Ambulance LINKS, volunteering with Hull LINKS whilst George was volunteering with Durham LINKS. Nicola has extensive professional experience in the charitable sector and has been supporting the Trust’s working committee on fundraising, communications and outreach.
Chris and Nicola also met (you guessed it) via St John Ambulance. Whilst currently living in Australia, they married on Saturday 20 May at Wokingham Town Hall. During the day they also found the opportunity to raise over £350 for GBCT by donating the proceeds of the sweepstake on the wedding speeches to GBCT. Nicola’s university friend Rob McDowall guessed the closest time and won a bottle of champagne.
- Meet our Volunteers: Englefield Green Fair – 24 June
Following the success of our stand last year, GBCT will again have a stand at the Englefield Green Fair on Saturday 24 June. Alongside the Coopers Hill Trust, where we’ve recently supported a new Community AED, our volunteers will be on hand to both talk about the work of the Trust and to demonstrate first aid skills. If you’d like to know how an AED works come and talk to us and practice on our AED trainer and resuscitation manikin.
- Thanks to our Supporters
GBCT relies upon the generous donations of its supporters and the Trustees would, once again, like to thank all of GBCT’s donors.
In May the GBCT Chocolate Brownie Chat took place. We saw pictures of many tasty bakes and heard about some great conversations. We were most tempted by Jenny Martin’s Chocolate Brownie Chat that featured four types of chocolate brownie! Thanks to the efforts and generosity of Jenny and her colleagues GBCT also gratefully received a donation of over £140.
The Trustees also took the opportunity to enjoy some brownies at their May meeting.
We’d also like to congratulate George’s cousin Jemima on completing the Hamburg Marathon. Setting an impressive time of 3:43:58, Jemima has raised over £1700 for GBCT. A fantastic achievement. Thank you to everyone who has supported Jemima and GBCT.
If you’d like to make a donation you can do so via our website www.gbct.org.uk and if you’re raising funds for GBCT please let us know. We’d love to be able to say thank you and support you via our social media pages.
- About the Trust
The GBCT was set up in March 2014 in memory of George Bairstow and exists so that the difference George made to people’s lives can continue.
George was committed to charitable work and lived his life to help others. He died in November 2013 in a car accident, returning home from a volunteer duty with St John Ambulance on Bonfire Night.
The GBCT’s goal is to empower communities to make a difference by providing grants in support of:
- The provision of emergency aid
- Volunteering among young people
- The enhancement of skills among young people
- Keeping in contact with GBCT
Visit our website at www.gbct.org.uk or email us at info@gbct.org.uk
Find us on Facebook at georgebairstowct for all the latest news and pictures and, don’t forget, we’re on Twitter too at gbct_uk.
Copyright © 2017 George Bairstow Charitable Trust. All rights reserved. George Bairstow Charitable Trust (GBCT), a charity registered in England and Wales (1155769).