Church coins it in to help Grands of cash aid homeless and lonely
An Ayr church has received a £ 10,000 cash boost to help homeless people and others who live on their own.
Asda presented the cheque to Riverside Church in John Street, Ayr to aid its projects and development.
The church’s main projects are Care andShare and Riverside Connect.
Formed in 2008, Care & Share is in partnership with Ayrshire & Arran NHS Trust that provides a drop- in service for the homeless to access health support.
And Riverside Connect is a befriending service that aims to help people in isolation, pairing them up with a buddy.
Bruce Bunten, co- ordinator for Riverside Community Trust was thrilled at the surprise cheque.
“It was just amazing,” he said. “Karen Fulton, the community champion for Asda gave us a donation of £ 500 last Christmas for our Christmas lunch.
“So when she phoned and said she had a surprise for us and turned up with a photographer and a cheque board - we assumed it would be similar to last year.
“She then wrote the amount £ 10,000 on the cheque and we couldn’t believe it”.
The 51- year- old said he felt like he was dreaming until the news sunk in a few days later.
“I was walking about for the next couple of days thinking ‘ did I dream that?’
“It’s just amazing and what we do must have resonated with Asda.” Bruce added.
“The money donated will go towards our projects and the ongoing costs.
“It’s just brilliant - we hope people from the Asda Foundation will come down and see what we do.”
Karen Fulton from the store gifted the cheque to Lizzie Adrain, Community Development Worker of Riverside Community Trust.