Millionaire Street Support For Good Causes: November 2023

It's not just our Millionaire Street winners who have something to celebrate. Every month, local charities in each of the Millionaire Street winning areas share a combined total of £1 Million too.

Let's take a look at some of the great things players of People's Postcode Lottery are making possible across Britian.

Warrington Millionaire Street

In November's Postcode Lottery draws, our first Millionaire Street prize landed in Warrington.

Warrington Mencap, a Northwest-based charity that enables adults with Learning Disabilities to live as independent life as possible, was awarded their biggest single funding amount of £60,000.

The independent charity looks after 20 residents with learning disabilities aged between 40 and 70 years old.

Founded over 40 years ago, the charity provides supported housing including three bungalows and three large houses, outdoor garden spaces and frequently runs social events for residents such as bowling, gardening, football and trips abroad. Warrington Mencap also provides support with social group care and assists in important life skills such as gaining employment.

Nikki Cotter, Assistant Manager at Warrington Mencap, said, "To receive an amount like this is huge for us - it's the biggest funding we have ever received. The money will ensure our facilities can remain accessible and our service users are in a safe space regardless of their abilities means so much to us.

"Thank you to the players of the People's Postcode Lottery."

Other local charities receiving funding thanks to Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide - £50,000 PAPYRUS is dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. It provides a suicide prevention helpline, HOPELINE247, and also delivers suicide prevention education and training to create suicide-safer communities across the UK.

• The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation - £50,000 The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation works across the UK and internationally in preventing, resolving and responding to extreme conflict. It was established created to provide peaceful alternatives to the use of violence in conflict situations.

• Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (Cheshire and Merseyside) - £70,000 RASASC is committed to supporting people who have been affected by rape or sexual abuse. It provides free community-based support that is tailored towards the needs of people affected by sexual violence.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Neighbourhood Trust (opens in a new tab).

Peterborough Millionaire Street

Our second Millionaire Street prize landed in Peterborough.

SERV Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, also known as the Blood Runners, provides a free local medical transport service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and was awarded £30,000.

And boss Cindy Dickerson has revealed it will help them expand their operation. The volunteer-led service delivers vital medical support by delivering blood, blood products, medical samples, medicine, medical equipment, and donated human milk, to NHS hospitals, Air Ambulance Services, Hospices, Human Donor Milk Banks, and vulnerable patients.

With a team of 160 volunteers that received The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2019, SERV always has at least seven Blood Runners on call.

The team have completed a staggering 16,000 assignments to date, covering 14,000 miles in October alone. The charity, which was founded in 2011, relies solely on donations to sustain its life-saving services.

Cindy Dickerson, Trustee and Chairman of SERV Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, said, "It's overwhelming to be receiving this funding thanks to the players of People's Postcode Lottery. It means a lot for our volunteers' efforts to be recognised, and it will also help us with essential training, equipment and running costs which are around £40,000 annually.

"This has given us an invaluable opportunity to expand our operations and replace one of our vehicles so we can continue to support NHS organisations, emergency air ambulances, new mothers, vulnerable babies and cancer patients in our region."

Some of the other local charities being funded thanks to Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• The SUN Network Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CIC - £30,000 The SUN Network is an organisation amplifying the voice of local people who need mental health and drugs and alcohol services.

• RSPCA Leicestershire, Peterborough & Rutland Branch - £50,000 The RSPCA are committed to helping to end cruelty towards animals. This branch works at a local level, helping to improve animal welfare in the area. It's run by a committee of local volunteers elected to look after the administration and management of the branch.

• Kingsgate Community Church - £30,000 Peterborough Foodbank exists to provide emergency food support, signposting and befriending for families facing hardship.

• Herds and Bulls Grass (Otherwise Storers of Eastrea) - £5,000 This charity has opened a Friendship Portal at the local Eastrea Centre where people can meet for a chat and drink.

• No Gain, No Pain UK (NGNPUK) - £5,000 NGNPUK fundraises for syringe drivers, which are portable devices that administer pain relief in palliative care, for local communities. These devices help patients stay comfortable in their own homes, surrounded by loved ones. New syringe drivers are donated to the local district nursing teams for use in the community.

• Defibrillators For All - £10,000 This charity provides and maintains public access defibrillators and free training for their local town and surrounding villages. They also offer regular heart screening.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Places Trust (opens in a new tab).

Dartford Millionaire Street

Our third Millionaire Street prize landed in Dartford.

An award of £25,000 has thrown a lifeline to one charity who feared they may have had to shut their food bank, hitting thousands of people and families in the area.

Howbury Friends, based in Erith, Bexley, feed more than 2,000 people every week. But soaring demand, low supplies and rising food costs threatened to shut their doors before Christmas.

But, with help from Players of People's Postcode Lottery, they will now be able to stay open through the winter.

Melanie Hudson, Community Project Coordinator, single-handedly oversees the running of the charity's food bank. She also organises numerous community groups including daily after-school activities, football groups, two weekly over-70s food clubs and half-term activities such as cookery classes.

Melanie said, "Funding raised by the players of the People's Postcode Lottery will make a huge difference to our work.

"Earlier this week we feared we wouldn't be able to open the food bank due having such low supplies. This funding will enable us to be able to keep the food bank full of food over the winter months and support vital appeals for coats and jumpers this Christmas."

She added, "In these times of austerity we're one of the only lifelines for people in the area. We have up to 300 people visit our food bank daily. This equates to us feeding over 2,000 people in one week. In one day, we can give out up to 70 loaves of bread and essential items such as packets of pasta. It is a huge pressure to feed your own family, let alone a community."

People's Postcode Lottery Presenter Jeff Brazier said, "It's definitely a Saturday to remember for five of our players in Dartford, it's a truly life-changing sum.

"And it's amazing to see Howbury Friends will also receive funding alongside local charities after the neighbour's postcode landed the Millionaire Street prize."

Other charities in the Dartford area receiving funding thanks to Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• Crossroads Care South East London - £50,000 A charity supporting all unpaid carers, both children and adults, and older people. Some of their services include respite care, an independent living service and community social activities.

• Re-Instate - £50,000 Re-Instate works to improve employment opportunities, as well as quality of life for disadvantaged people in the London Borough of Bexley. This includes people experiencing mental ill-health, those with learning disabilities, autistic adults, and young people.

• Home Start North West Kent - £25,000 Home-Start is a local community network of trained volunteers and expert support helping families living in social and economic deprivation.

• Active Horizons - £50,000 A youth-led organisation established to encourage leadership in young people aged 13-25 years living in the London Borough of Bexley. They promote the voice of disadvantaged young people, particularly from the black, ethnic and minority community.

• Bexley Voluntary Service Council - £25,000 BVSC is an infrastructure organisation supporting both the smallest and larger charities in Bexley by offering guidance, training, and funding.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Society Trust (opens in a new tab).

Old Kilpatrick Millionaire Street

Our fourth Millionaire Street prize landed in Old Kilpatrick. One local charity can now take their services out on the road after being awarded a game-changing £100,000.

Golden Friendships is a Clydebank-based charity which promotes social inclusion by organising entertainment, events and fun activities for everyone, and supports up to 4,500 vulnerable community members every month.

Part of the funds will be used to help purchase a wheelchair-friendly minibus to take its patrons, many of whom experience mobility issues, on cultural trips around Scotland and the UK.

Golden Friendships founder Jim McLaren said, "This funding has all been made possible by players of People's Postcode Lottery and will make an enormous impact on the opportunities this humble charity can create for our community. We are eternally grateful."

He added, "For us, social inclusion is about improving the opportunities and dignity of those disadvantaged in our community. We're incredibly proud of what we've achieved since we started in 2018 but you always want to do more – and now we can."

Some other charities in the Old Kilpatrick area receiving funding because of Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• Old Kirkpatrick Food Parcels - £35,000 The goal of Old Kirkpatrick Food Parcels is to alleviate food poverty and social isolation in the local area. Their community hub is a safe space and welcome to all, with activities taking place daily.

• Community Links Scotland - £25,000 Community Links Scotland delivers projects responding to community needs which include employability and training schemes. They also provide support and offer guidance to help communities thrive and reach their potential.

• Made With Love - £10,000 Made With Love (JMJ) is a non-profit social enterprise that helps children suffering from hunger. They work with schools to provide Christmas hampers, prepare packed lunches, and run a community café that's open to everyone.

• Clydebank Men's Shed - £10,000 Clydebank Men's Shed plays a critical part in the local community, helping those who are disadvantaged or excluded from the mainstream.

• Dynamite Gymnastics Club - £5,000 Dynamite Gymnastics Club offers gymnastics classes to over 600 members from the age of 18 months plus, from beginners to performance athletes on Scottish national squads.

All funding was awarded by People's Postcode Trust (opens in a new tab).

Reading Millionaire Street

Our fifth Millionaire Street prize landed in Reading and meant that Christmas had come early for a string of local charities. One of them, The Cowshed - a community-driven charity dedicated to providing support to individuals during times of personal crisis - has been awarded £50,000.

Its co-founder and CEO Sally Russell said the award will be vital for the small charity to help more people over the festive season.

Sally - who set up The Cowshed in 2018 with husband Kester - said, "I couldn't believe it when I got the phone call from the Postcode Society Trust.

"For a small charity like ours, this is substantial funding which will help us with our general running costs but also allow us to help even more people and families now and in the lead-up to Christmas."

The Cowshed provides good quality, cleaned, and ironed clothes and other essential items free of charge to those in need through referrals from over 200 other organisations such as food banks, social services, and schools.

To date, it has helped over 20,000 people and recycled over 700 tonnes of textiles and other items which would have ended up in landfill.

The team also painstakingly sort and wrap Christmas present donations, ensuring more than 3,000 local families can provide gifts to their children.

Sally added, "We help people from all walks of life and all backgrounds - from victims of domestic violence to people who have suddenly lost their homes or fallen ill, as well as those who simply cannot afford school uniforms or a prom outfit. Our mission is to give people a helping hand with dignity."

Other charities in the Reading area receiving funding thanks to Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• Me2 Club - £50,000 Me2 Club enables the inclusion of children and young people with additional needs into mainstream activities. This is done through trained volunteers that provide one-to-one support.

• Sport in Mind - £50,000 Sport in Mind is an independent mental health charity that was formed with a simple mission: to improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems through sport and physical activity.

• Parenting Special Children (PSC) - £50,000 PSC is a Berkshire organisation supporting families and working directly with children and young people with special needs, disabilities and/or early life trauma. They also train the professionals working with families.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Society Trust (opens in a new tab).