Generous donations help maintain our vital service

Bobby Van operator Doug Batchelor receiving a cheque from the ladies of the Poppydown Quilters in Swindon

BECAUSE the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust receives no statutory funding, the organisations and trusts who help us raise the £350,000 we need each year to maintain our services are hugely important.

In recent months we have been fortunate to receive a number of generous donations that will go a long way to helping us keep people safe in their homes.

The John Horseman Trust supports charitable projects which are of practical utility and benefit for the environment, education and local communities. It has donated £5,000 towards our Digital Doorbell Campaign, which will help us fit doorbells to people over 60 or with disabilities who are at risk of crime at low cost.

The campaign has also been boosted with a donation of £600 from the Wayland Estates Charity, which benefits people living in and around Cricklade, and also from the Chippenham Lions, which donated £910.

Our team of Stay Safe Online volunteers, who visit people at risk of cybercrime in their home to pass on vital advice and give talks to groups, has received £1,000 from the Coventry Building Society’s Trowbridge branch.

There were two other donations towards our work. The Ray Harris Charitable Trust, which supports charities and individuals in West Wiltshire covering the arts, education, medicine and mental health, youth organisations and projects, social welfare and conservation, donated £1,000.

The nimble-fingered members of the Poppydown Quilters in Swindon presented £500 raised at a sewing day to Bobby Van operator Doug Batchelor.

Director Jennie Shaw said: “We rely heavily on the generosity of the people of the county to be able to maintain this much-needed service at a time when demand is higher than ever so we are deeply grateful to all of the trusts and organisations who have made these donations.

“Their kindness means we can plan ahead with confidence and that we will be there for the frightened and anxious victims of crime, or those at risk of crime, who will feel safe again because of our service. We thank them all from the bottom of our heart.”