Ellesmere and District branch in plea for volunteers to help Save the Children
Supporters of the Ellesmere and District branch of the Save the Children charity have raised more than £6,000 in the past 15 months. But officials say cuts to overseas aid budgets by Britain and America have underlined the need for more volunteers to come forward to help step-up fund-raising efforts
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The branch was founded in the late 1960s by Mrs Corinna Jebb, whose late husband, Lionel, was a great nephew of Eglantyne Jebb and Dorothy Buxton, the Ellesmere-born sisters who set-up the charity in 1919, to help feed children left starving in Germany and Austria at the end of World War 1.
“Nearly all our hard-working committee members have been actively involved for many years, but they’re now elderly and we need younger people to come forward and play a part in keeping the branch going,” said treasurer/secretary Lynn Bartley.
“During 2024 we were successful in raising four thousand pounds, and so far this year we’ve already sent another £2,250 tp Save the Children’s London headquarters.
Students and staff at Ellesmere’s Lakelands Academy helped to boost the total with a wreath-making workshop and their involvement in the charity’s annual Christmas Jumper Day. Other fund-raising activities included Christmas card sales, a quiz night at Ellesmere Comrades Club, and coffee mornings and open garden events hosted by long-serving supporters Mrs Barbara Molesworth of Whittington and artist Angela Scott who lives near Dudleston.
“We’re very grateful to everyone who’s supported us in the past year,” said acting chair Mrs Jean Ferris who has been volunteering for more than 50 years. “It’s been a very rewarding 12 months and it was wonderful to have our efforts recognised and receive a warm thank-you from Princess Anne, Save the Children’s Patron, when she met committee members during a visit to the Jebb sisters’ birthplace at The Lyth, near Ellesmere last April.
“Our concern now is that the cuts in foreign aid budgets here and in the United States will have severe consequences for many of the world’s most vulnerable children. It’s vital that they continue to receive food, medical support and other essentials. That’s why we’re appealing for younger people to come and help us with fund-raising, following in the footsteps of the pioneering Jebb sisters more than a century ago.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Mrs Ferries on 01691 690320
