RAF Halton Community support the Salvation Army
Throughout December members of the RAF Halton community have been donating items of clothing, food and toiletries in order to support the work of The Salvation Army. Co-ordinating the project from the Trinity Community Centre was Station Community Support Clerk, SCSC, Jan Holdsworth.
Jan said she had been: “Blown away by the generosity of the RAF Halton community and encouraged by their willingness to help others.” She continued: “Back in October we decided that we needed to do something for our own: there seems to be a number of collections for other causes and I thought as we have approximately 4,000 ex-military personnel on the street in the UK it was time to collect for our homeless.
The collection was amazingly successful and became a Salvation Army collection as people were donating bedding, children’s clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, toiletries and non-perishable foods the list goes on…
I personally can’t thank our community enough for donating so much, it is humbling to know that whilst times are tough people still manage to find something they can donate.”
Receiving the donations on behalf of The Salvation Army was Captain Lisa Hanover who thanked Jan for organising the collection stating that: “Such acts of kindness will make a huge difference in the lives of those who are homeless.”
Padre Hanover, Station Chaplain, said: “All the credit goes to Jan and my wife. I was only there in the photo as the resident Station Salvation Army Chaplain to swoop in and pick up the donation. Many thanks to everyone who donated.”
Padre Geof Withers, Senior Chaplain at RAF Halton, said: “We are certainly delighted and privileged as a Chaplaincy Team to fully support and encourage these initiatives of compassion and support for the wider community and to seek to practically demonstrate our care for those who are experiencing hardships and financial worries within their lives. The simple and creative campaign initiated by the members of the Trinity Community Centre team captured something of the heart of the Station and its sensitivity to the challenges experienced by those outside of the military community. A very big thank you to them and for the generosity of the military community.”