fund raise, Listed building, UCKG, urgent need,
Wednesday 1st December 2010
Eager carol singers and charity collectors from UCKG branches in London and around the UK will hit the streets from December 1st to24th in order to raise £60,000 for national charities, and contribute to the restoration of two listed buildings in London.
The UCKG will firstly be giving £10,000 each to six charities it has worked with during its 2010 secular community support programme. They are: Oxfam, the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, the Blood Pressure Association, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Smile Appeal.
Once the London carol singers and out of town street collectors have hit their £60,000 target, the balance of the money collected will be dedicated to the restoration of two Grade II listed buildings.
The National in Kilburn, which was once a cinema, is in urgent need of substantial roof repairs and structural works at an estimated cost of £690,000 and the former Hackney Synagogue requires electrical and mechanical works to comply with modern standards, with a total expenditure estimated in excess of £350,000.
Marco Andrade, the UCKG’s fundraising manager said: “There will be approximately 800 of our volunteers on the streets throughout the UK at any one time. They have all received training from our department and are raring to go.
“We have been granted Christmas Carols licences to fund raise in the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Kensington and Chelsea, Lewisham, Croydon, Merton, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Camden, Bromley, Barking and Dagenham, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Newham, Westminster, Brent, and Greenwich.
“Outside London we have licences for street collections in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, West Berkshire, Oxford, Luton, Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester, Swindon, Medway, and Gravesham. Overall we are looking forward to a happy and successful appeal and to supporting a lot of good work in 2011.”
There is a dedicated page on UCKG’s website where anyone who is interested can read more about the charities it is supporting and the properties that it plans to renovate. Please follow this link www.uckghelpcentre.org
Note to editors:
UCKG is a Christian church and registered charity that offers a range of practical support activities alongside spiritual support and comfort. It was formed in 1977 and is active in 176 countries as a church in the mainstream Pentecostal tradition. It reached the UK in 1995 and has gone from strength to strength, providing support and spreading the Christian faith. There are 39 UCKG branches in England and Wales.
For more information please contact Jenny Walton or Lucy Andrews on 01962 893 893 or the UCKG press office on 020 7686 6033.
