Springing into action

Donations for a Gloucestershire-based special-needs charity have been flooding in after a fundraising auction at the recent Atlas Installation of the Year awards.

The awards, which were held on 20 January, spurred guests to dig deep in to their pockets to raise £3,500 for the Spring Centre in Gloucester. The funds will be used to buy much-needed specialised toys which will boost the toy library at the Centre.

The Spring Centre needs to raise £10,000 a month to support the families of more than 100 youngsters with disabilities and special needs throughout Gloucestershire. This donation from Atlas rounds off two years of fundraising by Atlas’ parent company the Customade Group which has raised a total of £48,000.

Nick Gibbons, Customade Group operations director, said: “This fantastic charity is very close to our hearts. My 13-year old daughter Niamh, who suffers from a genetic condition and needs 24-hour care, regularly visits The Spring Centre for essential respite care. We are delighted to have raised such a terrific amount of money for the centre over the last two years and to give something back to show our appreciation of everything they do for local families.

“The Atlas Installation of the Year awards was a brilliant evening of celebration, topped off with a mighty fundraising result from some big-hearted guests as well as people who couldn’t attend on the night. Thanks to everyone who donated.”

Jayne Fisher, centre manager at the Spring Centre, said: “We are thrilled to receive such a generous donation and to have the continued support of a local company. Niamh has been coming to the centre for many years and donations like this are vital to provide essential care and equipment for her and her family and other families with children with complex needs.”

Caption
From left: Finlay Gibbons (11), Nick Gibbons, Niamh Gibbons (13) and Carly Gibbons.