Photo: Mayor and Mayoress of Sefton and our great friend Brenda Porter with Mindy, Darren and Chris.
Southport centre holds reception to enlist community support
The Sandpipers respite break centre in Southport, run by national disability charity Revitalise, held a reception on Thursday 25 June to kick start its drive to enlist more community support from the local area.
Southport MP John Pugh and former local councillor and long-time Sandpipers supporter Brenda Porter were among the VIP guests at the event.
Also in attendance were the Mayor and Mayoress of Sefton, Councillor Stephen Kermode and wife Gwen, Nigel Bellamy, Deputy Chief of Sefton Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) and Debbie Riozzie, Manager of the Ainsdale Community Centre.
The invited guests were joined by Revitalise Chairman Mindy Sawhney, Trustee Hugh Kemsley OBE and Chief Executive Chris Simmonds, alongside volunteers and staff from Sandpipers and the disabled people and carers enjoying holidays at the centre.
Sandpipers, which provides respite holidays for disabled people and carers from across the region, held the reception as a call to action to support the hoped-for set up of a ‘Friends of Sandpipers’ group and generate more community backing for the popular local centre’s mission.
Revitalise Chairman Mindy Sawhney made the keynote speech, praising the supporters who were instrumental in the foundation of Sandpipers in 1988 and calling for new supporters to open doors, increase awareness and raise funds for the centre into the future.
Revitalise is urging local individuals, groups and communities to come forward if they wish to support Sandpipers in this way.
Mindy Sawhney commented:
“We are delighted to have been able to welcome so many people from the community to share an evening at Sandpipers: some old friends of the centre involved at the very beginning, alongside others new to Sandpipers who are important in the role they play in the community.
“But this evening has all been about the future of Sandpipers and our need to put the centre once again at the heart of the community from which it was created 27 years ago.
“With the support of Brenda Porter – former Sefton councillor and community champion – we hope this evening’s event will help us kick-start a Friends of Sandpipers group, made up of people from across the region, to help open doors, raise awareness and ultimately raise funds for Sandpipers, and enable us to continue to provide life-changing respite holidays for disabled people and carers.”
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