You may remember back in October, we covered how our Head of Life Planning – Jeremy Squibb and the Helston Dolphins Under 9s football team he coaches were planning a Halloween fancy dress fundraising match in aid of Cornwall Downs Syndrome Support Group.
Despite their best efforts to play the match on multiple occasions, hampered by torrential rain, unplayable pitches, and then multiple lock-downs and restrictions, the fund-raising event had to be prudently postponed, meaning that team would either have to play with no crowd, or wait until lockdown was lifted. Nevertheless, donations continued to flood in, taking the amount raised by the initiative to ÂŁ1,070 without any additional match-day fund raising.
Hearing of the initiative, and wanting to help with the fundraising, the Freemasons of Cornwall through the Cornwall Mark Foundation recently donated a further ÂŁ500 to the charity, bringing the total to ÂŁ1,570 having been raised to support the outstanding work of CDSSG. The Helston Dolphins still plan to play their fancy dress charity match in the new season in front of a packed crowd at Kellaway Park when social distancing rules permit.
At their final training session of the season, Ginette Davies, Chairperson of CDSSG and her two daughters, caught up with Jeremy and members of the team to thank them for their fundraising efforts over the past season, the biggest challenge then being wrestling the ball from little Elodie when it was time to go after displaying her footballing skills with the team.
Said Jeremy – “It’s been the most memorable season, and to be able to support such a worthy cause who make such a difference to young people’s lives in Cornwall has made it all the more special. We ourselves have been superbly supported by Origin Coffee and Questions & Answers, both local visionary businesses, and without their assistance throughout this challenging year, the experience for the team would have been very different indeed. Our thanks also go to the Cornwall Mark Foundation for their very generous donation, along with all the other monies they have distributed across Cornwall during the pandemic”.
Ginette added “We are overwhelmed, that in the present climate, the Dolphins have been instrumental in raising such a magnificent amount, and we would like to add our heartfelt thanks to all of their supporters and the Cornwall Mark Foundation. We very much look forward to visiting again when the fancy dress match finally takes place next season”.
