£30,000 raised in appeal for charities hit by the virus

An appeal to help charities in Scarborough, Whitby and Filey hit by the pandemic has raised £30,000.

The Scarborough Coronavirus Appeal was launched near the beginning of lockdown to help charities in the area left cash-strapped by coronavirus.

The crisis has meant those organisations which help some of the area’s most vulnerable have found they are needed more than ever.

Already hard-pressed for money, they have been facing unprecedented demand for their support – from providing food and essentials to physical and mental health care.

But with fundraising events having to be cancelled and charity shops forced to shut, many have been struggling for cash.

The Scarborough Coronavirus Appeal, managed by Two Ridings Community Foundation, collected funds solely for charities and social enterprises in the Scarborough borough to help them through the crisis.

Among those backing the scheme were Scarborough Business Ambassadors, who donated £10,000.

Local businesses have rallied round to help, including Eastfield-based clothing firm SikSilk.

Two Ridings Community Foundation has also been running a coronavirus community fund for the whole of North and East Yorkshire.

That has raised over £900,000 and given out more than 235 grants.

Money has been handed out to a host of good causes including Scarborough Mind and Age UK Scarborough and District which have received the largest cash donation so far of £27,366.

Also helped has been older people’s charity Trinity Centre Whitby. Carolyn Watkinson, who is a trustee there, said: “This grant will be an enormous aid towards helping us to continue supporting older and vulnerable people in Whitby.

“Our clients experience the debilitating effects of social isolation under normal circumstances.

“This grant has been invaluable in enabling us to stay in regular contact with them to provide hot meals several times per week to those who need it most.

“Without grants such as this, the Trinity Centre would have closed and the social connectedness so important to our clients would have been lost to them.

“Instead, we have been able to adapt our way of working to support not only our regular clients but also some of the most vulnerable people from our partner charitable organisations.

“As one service-user said, ‘It’s such a treat. I didn’t expect anything. I thought I would be on my own at home with nothing to do and I’m busy all day with the activities’.”