Lord David Shutt of Greetland, OBE PC founded the Community Foundation for Calderdale (CFFC) nearly 30 years ago and sadly passed away last year. His Daughter, Christine Gow (pictured) decided to raise fund for the CFFC in his memory and made 198 cream teas which friends and family gave her a donation for and she smashed her original target of £2,000 and raised a total of £2,460. The Laptops for Learning Campaign was launched in partnership with Calderdale Council to purchase hundreds of laptops and internet access for schools to distribute them to children in need across Calderdale.
Christine was surprised when she saw the variety of different community projects the CFFC fund in Calderdale but was particularly moved by the Laptops for Learning Campaign.
Fundraiser Christine explained, “I looked at my family situation a couple of weekends ago and realised how lucky we were. I realised that my family have access to the facilities to do home learning, but that this isn’t the norm for every family in Calderdale and wanted to raise money to help these children still be able to get an education and help their future prospects.
“My Dad had the vision to create CFFC which now gives out over £1 million of grants every year to community projects, and so by raising this money, not only are we helping to provide laptops, but it is also a tribute form me to my Dad.”
Steve Duncan DL, CEO of CFFC added, “We mobilised £32,000 sourced from Foundation fundholders, general donations and matched funding sourced by the Council. We are utilising the buying power of the Council and are working with The Valley Learning Partnership and are pleased that the first batch of laptops and internet access will be given out to pupils this week. We still need to raise over £100,000 to ensure all Calderdale children and young people can enjoy the same remote learning experience as others. If you would like to donate, you can do so by donating on our online Local Giving page.”
