A group that teaches circus skills such as unicycling and juggling is among the Teesside community champions shortlisted for a share of a £20,000 charity jackpot.
Juggling & Unicycling Stockton-on-Tees – or JUST, for short – gives local people the chance to participate in alternative activities such as stilt-walking, diablos, poi-twirling, magic tricks, slack-line walking and hula-hooping.
The group, who focus on fun and social interaction, is hoping to get a big share of Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation’s latest £20,000 Golden Giveaway to help cover the costs of new equipment and the training of volunteers.
Along with 14 other local community groups and schools, they need the votes of the Teesside public after being shortlisted to receive a share of the charity jackpot.
The £20,000 Golden Giveaway is a novel way that the Philanthropic Foundation distributes funds to the local community.
After receiving applications from more than 60 Teesside community groups, charities and schools, a panel of the Foundation’s patrons have chosen a shortlist of 15 to share the cash.
But the size of the share each group receives will be decided in a public poll, with the good cause receiving the most votes to get the top prize of £5,000.
The second-placed worthy cause will receive £2,500, there’s £2,000 for third place, fourth and fifth get £1,500, sixth to eighth will receive £1,000, there’s £750 for ninth to 12th, and the final three will receive £500 each.
Thousands of people have voted in previous Golden Giveaway polls, so the public is asked to give their support to their favourite good cause.
Those shortlisted along with JUST are:
- Butterfly Giving – supporting Teesside teenagers after a cancer diagnosis.
- Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team – new casualty care equipment for volunteer team.
- Grangetown Netball – new kit and equipment for club featuring 200 players and coaches.
- Junction Foundation – activities for young carers across Middlesbrough and Redcar.
- Kinship Carers, Middlesbrough – towards a Butlins holiday for 30 children and grandparents who care for them.
- Ladies of Steel – day trip and youth club equipment for Dormanstown kids.
- North Ormesby Over-50s Club – trips out for the young at heart.
- Remembering Rebecca – trips out for the siblings of disabled children with life-limiting conditions.
- Rosebrook ASD Hub – outdoor play equipment for children with autism.
- Route 2 – working with men who have been the perpetrators of domestic violence.
- Scoil Rince I Muir – costumes and shoes for Irish dancers in Thornaby and Coulby Newham.
- St Joseph’s Primary – healthy eating cookery classes for Loftus pupils and parents.
- STAMP Revisited – training volunteer advocates to support those recovering from mental health, alcohol or other issues.
- Swift-Tees – leadership and coach training for running club with more than 200 members.
The cheques will be presented by representatives of the Foundation’s patrons, who have helped raise more than £1.7 million for Teesside good causes in just five years.
Foundation trustee Emily Bentley, of patrons Evolution Business and Tax Advisors, was joined on the selection panel by patrons Alisdair Beveridge, Tim Payne of the Clinkard Group, the Foundation’s Diane Williamson and Joanne Fryett of Middlesbrough FC.
Emily said: “Choosing just 15 community groups from the 60 who applied was an incredibly tough task – but now the Teesside public face an ever tougher decision of giving their vote to just one of the shortlisted 15.”
To vote for your favourite good cause, visit the Philanthropic Foundation’s website at www.teessidecharity.org.uk. Votes are strictly limited to one vote per device. The poll runs until 5pm on Monday June 20.
