Words by Smiley Team
A charity that helps more than 1,600 people with disabilities have thanked community fundraisers for their creative efforts to generate money during the pandemic.
Diverse Abilities, based in Dorset, help both adults and children with severe and profound physical and learning disabilities.
Like many organisations, they have had to cancel a lot of their major events which would normally have raised thousands of pounds.
But supporters like independent lifestyle shop The Hambledon Gallery, in Blandford, Dorset, have risen to the challenge and raised £1,000 by selling facemasks online and in-store designed by local artist Henrietta Young.
Charlotte Bentley from The Hambledon Gallery, said: “We are so pleased to have raised more than £1,000 so far for Diverse Abilities. We have more masks in stock and are excited for new ones to come.”
All the money raised will go to the Diverse Abilities Emergency Appeal, which aims to help people still access all the charity’s services through offering online sessions, buying extra PPE for staff, supporting disabled adults in their homes through outreach projects and more.
Cat Abbott, marketing manager at Diverse Abilities, said: “It’s great to be able to work with our local community to create fundraising initiatives – in a lockdown and in normal times. Henrietta has always been so supportive of our cause, and it’s the ongoing relationships that can really make a big impact.
“In a world where we can’t host our usual events, fundraising income has dropped dramatically, so this sort of thinking outside the box is helping us to continue delivering vital services to the people who need us most.
“We’d encourage anyone supporting a local charity to consider making it a partnership year on year as the compounding impact really does make a huge difference to small organisations.”
To learn more about Diverse Abilities and support their Emergency Appeal, visit their website or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
To support their work donate here.
