Children sing to support young runaways

Over 300 people attended a carol service in the Cathedral Church of St Marie in aid of local children’s charity SAFE@LAST where schools and choirs from across the region performed a mix of festive favourites.  Schools lending their voices in support included St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and St Joseph’s Mothers Choir, Dinnington, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Primary School, The New T Young People’s Choir, The Meden School, Warsop, Trinity Academy, Doncaster, Mount St Mary’s College and Windhill Primary School, Mexborough.  A collection at the Carol Service was held to benefit the charity.

One of the schools performed a song particularly relevant to SAFE@LAST. St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School from Dinnington performed their version of the song ‘Refuge’ as SAFE@LAST opened their refuge, the only one in the country outside of London, earlier this year.  St Josephs have recorded the song Refuge and also Believe both of which are available to buy on CD from the SAFE@LAST office (to order call 01909 566977) or you can download both songs from the iTunes website.  All proceeds go to SAFE@LAST.

Sue Kelly, SAFE@LAST Trustee and member of the SAFE@LAST fundraising group said “I thought the Christmas Carol Service was absolutely magical and I can only hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as me. It is brilliant to see young people using their talents to help other young people who are in need over the Christmas period.  Our most heartfelt thanks go to Father Desmond and everyone at the Cathedral of St Marie as well as all the children, young people, teachers, schools, volunteers and everyone else that made this into such a magical evening, we could not have done it without you.”

Charity recieves support after flooding

Chief executive and founder trustee Hilary Massarella was present at the meeting of the Rotherham Rotary Club on 21st November to receive a cheque for £4000 from President Michael Sumption of Rotherham Rotary Club and President Elect Ian Saunders of Sitwell Rotary Club. President Michael said “Following the floods in our region, The Rotary Movement quickly responded and established  the District 1270 Flood Appeal Fund with contributions from around the country and abroad. After the floods further south, the Rotary involvement came to the attention of Fashion Model Naomi Campbell who held a fashion show raising over £500,000 for the Fund. Local Rotary Clubs have sought out, and considered worthy and needy organisations for funds and I am pleased that we have been able to help this important local Charity in this instance”  

SAFE@LAST was forced to move offices in August after our premises suffered serious damage as a result of the heavy rain this summer.  After much consideration the trustees of SAFE@LAST came to the decision that it was no longer safe to continue working there and in order to continue to provide vital services to young people who run away from home, the move was crucial.  This decision was not taken lightly as the charity now needs to find an extra £12,000 a year in rent from their stretched resources. 

Hilary said “We are thrilled and very grateful to receive this money which will go towards covering the costs we incurred when we had to move our offices in the summer.  Like many in the region we suffered because of the unprecedented rain.  The cost of moving, new office equipment and a significant increase in rent was unexpected and something we did not have chance to budget for.  This donation is a huge support and we are very grateful to all those that contributed to the appeal.”

A thousand people enjoyed an evening of light hearted laughter and gentle reminiscences from the master storyteller and best selling author Gervase Phinn at the Crucible Theatre on Monday 26th November.  Gervase was joined on stage by his best friend Stephen Smith, Soprano Jennifer Harris and concert pianist David Barnard.  All proceeds from the sell out event went to local children’s charity SAFE@LAST for which Gervase is patron. 

The audience were treated to a performance of St Joseph’s Junior School Choir singing the song ‘Refuge’ which they have recorded to raise money for SAFE@LAST.  The choir first performed the song earlier this year when the Duchess of Gloucester visited SAFE@LAST to commemorate the opening of their refuge for young people and everyone was so touched by its relevance that the choir consented to record the song in order to raise funds for the charity.  ‘Refuge’ is available to download from iTunes or CD’s are available from the SAFE@LAST office, please contact 01909 566977 to order your copy.

Gervase Phinn is one of the UK’s best known authors and education experts.  He has taught in a range of schools and is now a freelance lecturer and adviser, consultant for the Open University and visiting professor at the University of Teesside.  He has appeared many times on radio and television and is constantly in demand as a public speaker.  SAFE@LAST is proud that he agreed to become a patron of the charity.  Gervase’s best friend Stephen Smith MBE appeared alongside him on stage at the magnificent venue.  Stephen practices law from his firm Wilford Smith and Co which was established in Rotherham in 1981, and has since attracted many controversial and high profile cases across the UK.  His charitable work was recognised by the award of an MBE in 2007 and SAFE@LAST is delighted that Steve continues as the enthusiastic, hardworking chairman of the SAFE@LAST Appeal Committee.

Chief Executive and Founder Trustee Hilary Massarella said “The evening has been a great success and our sincere thanks must go to Gervase and Steve who have been very loyal and committed supporters of SAFE@LAST since they heard about our work, it is wonderful to have them on board.  Our thanks must also go to Sheffield Theatres for finding us a date at the Crucible, Lord Scarborough for taking to the stage on our behalf, all the volunteers that helped organise the event and ensured its smooth running on the night and a very big thank you must go to Christine Ayres for organising this event”.

More than 30 supporters of SAFE@LAST spent the night sleeping rough at Rotherham’s Parkgate Shopping Centre on Tuesday 6th November in order to raise awareness of the issues surrounding running away. SAFE@LAST organised the event which saw over 30 supporters of the charity including their patron Lord Scarbrough, sleeping on the tarmac in temperatures below 10°C to raise awareness of what young people face when they spend a night on the streets.

Research shows that “One in nine children under 16 years of age runs away or is thrown out and spend at least one night away from home.“

“This amounts to over 3,200 young people every year in South Yorkshire”.

Tracy Haycox, Strategic Runaway Services Director for SAFE@LAST said “We hope this event has highlighted some of the issues that young people face when they run away from home. Almost all of the young people we work with have spent a night on the streets without money, food or shelter. The supporters that slept out had it easy compared to young people who sleep rough. We had sleeping bags, food, money, company and a secure environment. When a young person sleeps on the streets their experience is very harsh, 100 times worse than what our supporters endured. As I lay trying to sleep in the early hours of the morning I comforted myself with thoughts of a warm breakfast and a comfy sofa in a warm house with my family around me, pleased to see me – young people who run away don’t have such thoughts to get them through the night – they are very much alone with a bleak future ahead. We would urge any young person who has run away from home or is thinking of doing so, to call our helpline (0800 335 SAFE). Its open 24hours a day (including over Christmas) we can and will help.

The Big Sleepout was attended by many of SAFE@LASTs supporters and raised over £2000. In attendance were patrons Lucy Pargeter (Chastity Dingle from Emmerdale) and legend boxing trainer Brendan Ingle. A massive thanks must go to Parkgate Shopping Rotherham for the use of their facilities and also for the amazing support they have given the event.

To see more pictures from the Sleep Out click here

Goalkeeping legend Gordon Banks returned home to appear at the children’s charity SAFE@LAST’s Sportsman's dinner on 29th October.

Catcliffe born Gordon, most famous for his part in England's 1966 World Cup glory spoke for an hour to a captivated audience before chatting and signing autographs for the 150 strong crowd.

The event was just one of SAFE@LAST's many fundraising events to support the vital work they do with young people who run away from home.  Thanks to the generosity of the audience at the Hellaby Hall Hotel, the charity raised £3900 during Monday's dinner.  Guests were treated to a lavish meal, with entertainment from Gordon Banks and also a local comedian and Master of Ceremonies Malcolm Lord. 

Mark Lees, SAFE@LAST's Fundraising Manager said after the event "We've had a memorable night, for many of us here it's been a huge honour to meet one of the country's greatest sporting heroes." he added "All of the guest's at tonight's dinner have been very generous, they've all taken part in our prize draw, raising a staggering £2200 and our auction tonight was fabulous adding another £1700 to the night's fundraising total. We're very grateful to all those who donated prizes, particularly Manor Motorsport whose donation of a weekend of motor racing anywhere in Europe was a particularly sought after item in the auction."

SAFE@LAST held its 8th annual ball with a ‘Champagne and Diamonds’ theme on Friday 19 October at the Sheffield City Hall with special guest performer John Parr.  John Parr broke away from his Autumn Tour, to travel from Cumbria to support the work of the charity, and the Trustees were delighted.

Charity Trustee Sue Kelly, who takes particular responsibility for the Annual Ball, said, “John is delighted to be able to support us and he had our guests dancing in the aisles when he opened up the evening’s entertainment. This year we had a record number of guests, over 400, and in keeping with this year’s theme, they all had the opportunity to win a fabulous diamond which has been donated by our generous sponsor, UK Bullion of Ecclesall Road. The Ball was a thoroughly sparkling affair and we raised a substantial amount of money at a time when we really do need it to support the hugely successful work that SAFE@LAST does with vulnerable young people.”

Hilary Massarella, Chief Executive said, “Our Fundraising Group has presented the Annual Ball for the last 8 years and it has grown in popularity every year. The main aim is to raise funds and at the same time, awareness of the plight of some children in our towns and cities. We manage to do this whilst ensuring that all our guests have a truly fabulous evening. When adults begin to understand the problems that these young people are running from, they cannot fail to be humbled by their courage and want to help us to help them.’

The Charity currently receives no Government funding and is therefore utterly dependent on community fundraising of this type to enable it to continue its work.

SAFE@LAST held an open day at their new offices on October 4th.  The open day also marked the launch of the ‘Text to Give Appeal’ a new way for supporters to make donations to SAFE@LAST using their mobile phone.  Supporters can now text SAM to 84424 and £3 will be added to their phone bill and donated to the charity. 

Community Fundraiser and Events Manager Mark Lees said ‘we are very excited to be able to offer this new method of giving.  Its quick and easy and only costs three pounds but that three pounds can make such a difference to young people who continue to need our services.”

The first SAFE@LAST clay shoot was held on August 18th by kind permission of Lord Scarborough at his Sandbeck estate in Maltby. 

The clay shoot was sponsored by Guy Salmon Land Rover Sheffield, and was well attended by a number of teams.  The Best Individual was Tony Newbould scoring 50, Best Novice was M. Johnston scoring 39. The Top Team was ’Farmer Boys’ who scored 245 Captain captained by Ben Marsden Runners-up were ‘ The Premier Shoot Park’ captained by Matt Marsden and Mick O’Donovan’s team were came in third.

Community Fundraiser and Events Manager Mark Lees said “This was my first big event for SAFE@LAST and it went without a hitch.  We have raised a substantial amount of money to help young people who are at risk through running away.  Our thanks must go to all the volunteers that helped on the day and everyone that took part as well Guy Samon Landrover for generously sponsoring the event and of course Lord Scarborough for the generous use of his land.  Hopefully we will be able to do it all again next year.”

Pictured: Lord Scarborough re-loads