A message from Hereford Times editor John Wilson:

Not for the first time this year, the Hereford Times urges its readers to stand together.

Christmas will soon be here. 

We know this most difficult year means people have great worries of their own.

Nevertheless, we believe it is more important than ever that we help others.

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So today we launch the Hereford Times Christmas Appeal 2020, in partnership with the Herefordshire Community Foundation.

Our aim is to help seven LOCAL charities in each of the key towns where the Hereford Times is read.

We invited the county’s mayors (and the mayor of Hay-on-Wye) to nominate a charity to receive an equal share of the funds raised by our appeal. 

To donate please visit www.herefordshirecf.org/donate or send a cheque to the Herefordshire Community Foundation, The Fred Bulmer Centre, Wall Street, Hereford HR4 9HP to help these charities:

Cllr Bob Widdowson
Mayor of Kington
Kington United Charities

A local charity, run to help local people at a time of crisis or need when help cannot be found elsewhere. It helps local groups such as the Kington food bank and other community services.

Cllr Kath Hey
Mayor of Hereford
Phoenix Bereavement Support Services

A charity working with children and young people when someone close to them dies, offering one-to-one support, family and group sessions, and social outings for children and young people.

Cllr Daniel Lister
Mayor of Ross-on-Wye
Ross Basement Youth Trust

Providing support to young people 11-18 years in the Ross-on-Wye district though informal drop-in sessions, professional training workshops and sports sessions.

“These very important services are at risk and as a community we need to step in and protect these vital connections to our youth and their future.”

Cllr Daniel Vesma
Mayor of Ledbury
Madison Shelbie Trust

“For the families of those who have lost their babies just before, during or just after birth, no Christmas will pass without wondering how different things would be without that empty chair,” says Mr Vesma.

“As for so many of us, the domestic run-up to Christmas is a cherished tradition in my house.

"I live for the sense of growing anticipation as more presents get hidden and the tree goes up.

"It was during such a week in 2006 that the baby boy my then-wife was carrying slipped away from us.

HOW TO DONATE: Visit www.herefordshirecf.org/donate

"He was just three weeks short of his due date. I was only in my early twenties, and the grief hit me like a train.

“Since it was founded five years ago, the Madison Shelbie Trust has directly supported over 350 parents, grandparents and siblings of babies who have passed away in Herefordshire.

“Covid has made finances even tighter than usual for the trust, so I would ask that you dig as deep as you can to help support this important local cause and the parents who they help through the darkest moments of their lives.”

Cllr Suzette Brunsdon
Mayor of Bromyard & Winslow
Helping Hands

Helping Hands, an initiative to provide food, toiletries and baby items to people encountering hardship, changed its name during the pandemic to Bromyard Food Bank and Money Advice Centre.

Allyson Reeves, a local events manager, stepped in to take over the day-to-day running of the Food Bank, which has now fed 323 adults/122 children/20 babies and 58 cats and dogs.

Alongside the food parcels, debt and money support is offered to clients, to help them out of the cycle of poverty.

Cllr Clive Thomas
Mayor of Leominster
Community Wheels

A vitally important community transport service, providing users of all ages and needs with door to door travel.

It provides an essential lifeline for many people who have no other means of transport. During the pandemic, staff went the extra mile to help the most vulnerable members of Leominster’s community, showing compassion and community spirit.

Cllr Trudy Stedman
Mayor of Hay-on-Wye
Hay & District Dial A Ride

“This organisation and their amazing volunteers undertake nearly 7000 journeys a year transporting people to hospital or GP appointments, to the bank, shopping, library visits, prescription collections and much more including organised day trips to local attractions.

During the coronavirus lockdown when they couldn’t undertake their normal people transport duties, they switched their focus to picking up prescriptions and shopping and delivering food on behalf of a local food bank.

They also stepped in to help out with transport for a resident who needed to attend regular radiotherapy treatments as they had a vehicle which enabled them to comply with the social distancing that was so important in this case.

Dial-A-Ride is more than just a transport charity, they provide a lifeline and support mechanism for their ‘customers’, one they have adapted to support people through the pandemic.

Hereford Times: Trish Kiddle next to the Dial a Ride vans in Hay-on-Wye. Picture: Rob DaviesTrish Kiddle next to the Dial a Ride vans in Hay-on-Wye. Picture: Rob Davies

CASE STUDY: Lifeline for so many people in Hay-on-Wye

“I don’t know how we would function without Dial-a-Ride,” says Trish Kiddle, who helps organise a luncheon club for the elderly and a club for people with dementia.

“Our clubs are so important to our members and some would not get to these things without Dial-a-Ride. 

“We are a community where lots of people live outside the town and Dial-a-Ride operating within a seven-mile radius means that they can be included – that they still get to join in. 

“They just make people’s lives so much better. 

“There’s a great group of people behind it all and lovely volunteers who drive for them. 

“There are a lot of things we couldn’t hold without them.

"We have 46 members who come to lunch club and most are unable to walk, and rely on Dial-a-Ride. 

"It’s a struggle for everybody at the moment, but even before the current crisis, Dial-a-Ride has been a lifeline for a lot of people, and if it couldn’t run, nothing would run.

"It just makes such a difference.” 

HOW TO DONATE: Visit www.herefordshirecf.org/donate