I have worked with many fantastic charities and organisations based in the Moorlands and am always pleased to be able to do what I can to support them and raise their profiles. I invited many of them to my Loneliness and Isolation Conference earlier this year and am now planning a charities training session, together with the Charities Aid Foundation who run workshops for the charities participating.
If any local charities would be interested in this, please do contact my office.
Many of our local charities here have won awards and I was delighted to be invited to visit a very special boat called Beatrice and the Beatrice Charity recently, which has been named as one the 2019 recipients of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
Chairman Derek Hilyer and committee member, Pam Hallam showed me around the Beatrice, a narrow boat that has been adapted so that children with all kinds of disabilities and learning difficulties have the opportunity to enjoy and learn from the delights of being on the water.
It was interesting to see the special facilities such as the lift which can transport wheelchairs down into the cabin and Pam explained how they work with many schools, including the Meadows school in Leek.
The Beatrice is moored at Cheddleton Flint Mill and the standard route for schools is from the mooring at the Flint Mill to the aqueduct and sometimes further along to the Leek Tunnel.
There was such a sense of calm and peace on the canal and I was delighted to meet Derek and Pam and see the Beatrice for myself. It is such a special boat and the Charity really does such amazing work. They are so passionate about what they do and absolutely deserve the recognition of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.