£2000 RAISED FOR CRISIS

We were dlighted to welcome Christine Eyers, Director of the Croydon Crisis Skylight Centre, to our meeting, where we were able to present her with our cheque for £2000, proceeds from the Christmas Raffle.

Christine updated on their work over the past year.

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The Christmas Raffle

For the second year running, due to the pandemic, it was clear that the Club would be unable to hold the annual Christmas street collections to raise funds for our charities.

Over the past 18 months we have found innovative ways to fundraise via Zoom events, but it is through the generosity of our members donating their lunch monies that we have been able to support the local community.

The Christmas street collections, though, is one of our biggest fundraising events, and we needed to find something to take replace it.

Hence the GRAND CHRISTMAS RAFFLE, organised by Graham and Barbara Harker, and which was drawn at our Christmas Lunch on Tuesday 14 December 2021.

The tradition of Croydon Rotary Club has been to invite a minister/priest to give the Christmas Message. In these changing times Croydon Rotary Club needs to change and thus this year Graham Harker gave the Christmas Message:

“Over 2,000 years ago a young couple, with the wife being very pregnant, journeyed to the town of their birth to be registered as required by the Roman army that had occupied their land. When the couple arrived in Bethlehem, they found they could not get accommodation as many others had made the same journey – they were effectively homeless. Fortunately, a local innkeeper found a stable for the young couple to stay in, and that night their child was born. This birth event is now celebrated each year at this time.

“Moving on, today in Croydon there are still people in the same condition as the couple – homeless.
For over 2,000 years the problem of homelessness has not been solved. However, fortunately there are charities which help the homeless in Croydon such as the Crisis Skylight Centre – just like the innkeeper did long ago in Bethlehem to the homeless couple. Croydon Rotary Club has supported Crisis over the past two years and this year the money collected for the Grand Christmas raffle will go to them. At our first rotary meeting of the New Year on 11 January 2022 the Director of the Croydon Crisis Skylight Centre, Christine Eyres, will speak to the club about Crisis’ work and in particular their activities over the Christmas period. We were pleased that Leigh Hall, a member of the Crisis team, joined members of the Club for lunch on the 14 December 2021.

“Therefore, the Christmas Message this year is focussed on homelessness and what we as a Rotary Club are doing to help the unfortunate people affected. In this way we make a link with first century Bethlehem.

“On to the Raffle. We set a target of raising £1,000 – a challenging target.

“We have actually raised  £ 1,765.

“FINALLY, a big thank you:

           To everyone who sold raffle tickets.
To everyone who bought raffle tickets.
To everyone who donated prizes.
To everyone who attended the lunch.”