CHEQUES totalling more than £15,000 have been handed out by a dale charity to help organisations and schools in Teesdale get through financial burdens caused by Covid-19.
Teesdale Lions were given a bumper donation of £20,000 by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in Barnard Castle, in the lead up to Christmas. The money would normally have been spent on staff Christmas lunches, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic opted to give the money to local causes instead and felt the Lions were best placed to distribute the funds.
Sharon Walker, president of Teesdale Lions, said: “We always discuss where our donations go and we had lots of ideas and suggestions.
“We have decided to give all of the dale’s state schools £1,000 each. Most people in Teesdale have children, or grandchildren in schools and they are the future of the dale, so we have to look after them.
“I spoke to a number of teachers and it’s something you don’t think about, but the extra costs of cleaning, sanitiser and cleaning of equipment has to be covered somehow.”
Donations of £1,000 have been handed out to Teesdale, Staindrop Academy, Green Lane, St Mary’s RC, Bowes Hutchinson, Cotherstone, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Forest-in-Teesdale, Staindrop, Cockfield, Woodland, Butterknowle and Evenwood schools.
Emma Gargett-Gillens, assistant headteacher and head of science at Teesdale School, said they were delighted to receive the donation which will help fund resources for students to “catch up” .
She added: “Part of it will be going on literacy projects and mental health resources for the students.”
In addition to this the Lions have also handed over £500 to Utass, Teesdale and Weardale Mountain Rescue and Kimberley Clarke at Evenwood.
Mrs Walker added: “We felt that we should support the things that are desperately needed and all these organisations and people have been providing support and services throughout the pandemic.
“We do still have some money to one side and there are clubs and groups that we normally support, but they are not able to meet at the moment, so at some point we will be handing over more cash.”
