Published at 07:42, Wednesday, 02 January 2013

COULD we please say a huge and heartfelt thank you both to Waitrose and to the people of Hexham for the incredibly generous donation we have received through the store’s ‘token’ scheme?

In the summer of this year Waitrose in Hexham contacted the project asking if we would be interested in being one of their monthly nominated charities. Customers get a green token with a purchase and they then select a charity on their way out of the store. We were then informed that we would be one of their November charities.

This month, we were contacted and informed that instead of the usual share of £1,000, we would be getting a share of £3,000 as the shop would be saving on Christmas advertising and diverting the money to charity.

We were delighted and amazed to hear that Links received the largest share of the vote and will receive £1,160 worth of John Lewis/Waitrose gift vouchers.

Not only is the money very much appreciated by our young people, but it is very heartening to know that the people of Hexham see value in the service we provide to homeless young people in the Tynedale area.

The money will be spent on household items for the flats at Links and some vouchers for young people who are moving on from Links in to their own tenancies.

Links aims to give young people somewhere safe to live while supporting them to live independently and invest in their futures. Support is focused around independent living skills such as cooking, cleaning, budgeting and improving access to education, employment or training. The project has been successful over the last few years in engaging with hard to reach young people.

Thank you to everyone who ‘voted’ for us!

RONNIE KANE,

Barnardo’s Links project,

Hexham

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk