Bolton Wanderers' 2015/16 charity partners confirmed

During the summer, the club called for charities from across the country to submit their applications to become a charity partner of the Whites this term.

Having been inundated with requests, Wanderers eventually selected their chosen organisations earlier this month, with those selected set to receive support in many forms throughout the duration of the coming season.

Below is an overview of the club’s new charity partners and what they stand for.

Adoption Matters is a children’s charity who specialise in adoption. As a voluntary adoption agency, they cover primarily the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, North Wales and the Midlands.  

Founded in 1947, they have placed over 6,000 children from the care system in permanent loving homes, with 64 youngsters helped last year alone. 

Their placements have one of the lowest rates of disruption thanks to an experienced team of professional social workers and their innovative centre for adoption support which provides a range of services, training and counselling for families to prepare them fully to meet the needs of their children and help them through any difficulties post placement.

For more information, please visit www.adoptionmattersnw.org.

BYPHS has six services that in total offer 120 units of supported accommodation for 16-25 year olds who are homeless and therefore vulnerable, at risk of financial and sexual exploitation and of sleeping rough and repeated homelessness.  

The charity was established in 1992 and covers the whole of Bolton where they accommodate 200 young people a year, although they do get referrals and offer housing advice for another 100.  

The accommodation they provide is all decorated and fully furnished, while they offer starter packs with food, basic toiletries and cleaning products to help young people get started.  

This clean, safe and furnished accommodation is just the start, with the support package varying depending on the needs of the young person and their levels of independence - a combination of emotional and practical support.  

The overall aim of the service is to tackle homelessness for young people and to enable independent living.

For further details, please visit www.byphs.org.uk.

The Jessica Green Fund was set up by Lisa McLoughlin and Carl Green after the tragic passing of their young daughter Jessica at just six years of age.  

“Being told your child has cancer is horrific, but it isn’t the worst thing a parent can hear. Being told your child has cancer and there is no cure is the worst thing any parent can be told," said Lisa.

“When Jessica passed away we knew we had to do something, so we came across the Brain Tumour charity last year and we were impressed with their work.  

“They are the UK’s leading funder of brain tumour research, they offer support to families and provide information to raise awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours to decrease diagnosis times.”

For more information on this cause, please CLICK HERE.

Cash for Kids is the official charity of the Greater Manchester radio station Key 103 and provides a helping hand to disadvantaged children across Greater Manchester.  

All money raised is spent locally and goes to support children and young people under the age of 18 throughout the city.  

Their grant rounds offer hundreds of worthwhile causes that are too small to gain sufficient attention in the market place the opportunity to secure funding for projects that are much needed in the area.  

From funding swimming lessons for a blind child to activity weekends for young carers, to breakfast clubs for schools in deprived areas, their grant rounds have the potential to create a tangible legacy.

Further details can be found at www.cashforkids.uk.com.

A £200k appeal has been launched to raise funds to make wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital more dementia friendly.

When people with dementia come to stay on a hospital’s medical or surgical wards, they are there to be treated for conditions such as a hip injury or a chest problem, not for their dementia. 

But these days there is far more awareness of how important it is to make the environment comforting, easy to use and familiar for these patients.

The appeal is being launched by Bolton NHS Charitable Fund and supported by The Bolton News to provide those extras which will make a hospital stay a better experience for sufferers of dementia, and to raise awareness of the condition.

The money raised will go on items such as memory prompting boxes, software and pictures, and a communal area designed as a 1960s lounge which encourages patients to sit and talk. 

Special equipment will be installed in some areas allowing different or softer lighting. Patients with dementia sometimes have difficulty remembering which bed is theirs or which room is the toilet, so there will be dementia friendly signs and the use of different colours.

The appeal is asking every household, business, school and group in Bolton to donate at least £1 to the appeal – and for people to post a selfie on social media of themselves holding their pound coin just before they donate it using the hash tag #D14D.

Make a Wish grants wishes to children and young people fighting life threatening conditions.  

When a child is diagnosed with a life threatening condition, it has a huge impact on them and their whole family, with the child often going through grueling treatments and sometimes serious operations, resulting in long periods away from their home and family.  

The wishes granted by Make A Wish range from being a princess for a day, meeting a hero to going on a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday.  

A wish provides the child with an escape from the everyday routine of living with a life threatening condition, giving them and their family a chance to create precious memories to treasure forever. Find out more about the charity by visiting www.make-a-wish.org.uk.