Dedicated fundraiser seeks community support to help secure charitable trust status

A DEDICATED fundraiser may have already raised £26,500 for local causes in just 12 months, but now she is aiming to help even more people by setting up a charitable trust.

Sarah Tate, from Lees, tackled challenges from walking and cycling to swimming and organising a charity football event to raise funds for charities and groups.

Now after a few months’ break she is back and more focused than ever on helping locals of all ages through her charitable trust called Sarah’s Community Challenge’s Project (SCCP).

And she is hoping the community will help make her plans a reality by supporting, donating and promoting her as she raises the £5,000 needed to complete her registration.

Sarah explained: “I did 12 months of fundraising, which was amazing, and then had a couple of months off. I was also a torch bearer and won a Mayor’s Appreciation Award, so it was all exhausting.

“But now I’m back and with a bang I hope. I’m in the process of registering as my own charitable trust and have done some low key challenges and donated to some causes.

“I’ve got a constitution and trustees, and dotted the Is and crossed the Ts. The only thing I need to do is get £5,000 in the bank account by August so I can complete my registration.

“So I’m throwing myself at everyone’s mercy again to ask for support and help. People might think I’m absolutely mad but my heart is in the right place.

“I’m fundraising and giving out donations and help in the meantime on a small scale but I can do a lot more once I am registered as that will open so many more doors.

“A small per cent of fundraising will go towards our target, but the rest is still going to helping charities, causes and projects.”

The charitable trust’s support will cover a broad spectrum so they can help as many people as possible, with their objectives focussing on community cohesion, promoting physical and mental health and well-being, support educational and social opportunities, especially for young people.

And their mascot is Tommy the Turtle to embody their motto of ‘Together We Can Cross The Line’ and it does not matter how long it takes.

Anyone doing their own personal challenges can take Tommy along for the ride and send in pictures – just get in touch with Sarah.

Sarah added: “I am a firm believer that we need to help our elder generation too but I am passionate about helping to provide opportunities and activities for young people when they otherwise might not have access to them.”

Sarah’s most recent challenges have included sitting in flower pots of cold water and cycling outside Oldham Community Radio.

And her summer was spent on a huge project to turn a 64ft wasteland at the side of the Leesfield Pre-school into a garden which can be enjoyed and used by all.

Sarah, who is also on the Mayoral Committee, said: “It had been strimmed back previously but then work on it ground to a standstill. I helped out at the pre-school summer fair and raised £250 specifically for the garden.

“We started fixing it up, levelled part it off and put in a retaining wall. We cleared 8ft of brambles and found a children’s playground that we didn’t know existed!

“My Facebook games and activities raised another £80 so we only put in about £330 but the donations were mega. We had huge donations of pallets, sand, cement, soil, gravel boards, trees, plants, seeds and everything else you can think of.

“There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and a few hospital visits to get it finished. It was a real labour of love.

“But it really pulled the community together and has created something everyone can us, not just the pre-school.”

Other fundraising projects Sarah has in the pipeline are a 25-mile walk on November 11 for Broughton House Veteran Care Village then a 24-hour team rowing machine challenge as a nod to Greenfield’s Frank Rothwell who is rowing 3,000 miles solo across the Atlantic Ocean for the second time with the aim of raising £1 million for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

And there will be a sleepout for homeless charities followed by a Ball at Billingtons on February 3 which is raising funds for Harper’s Army for a 21-month-old girl who has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. Her family are aiming to raise £300,000 to get to USA for pioneering treatment.

Sarah is also donating 52 memberships to Mahdlo, worth £5 a week, and boxing equipment, as well putting money from her bingo lottery specifically towards initiatives for young people.