Hungerford firm raises £3,000 for Mary Hare

Cash injection for pool building project

HUNGERFORD firm UPS Systems has presented a cheque for £3,000 to The Mary Hare Foundation.

The donation will go towards the development of the swimming pool at Mary Hare School at Snelsmore Common for profoundly and severely deaf children and young people.

The pool, which was built more than 30 years ago, is an important facility for the pupils who attend the school.

The money raised by UPS Systems takes The Mary Hare Foundation’s ‘Sink or Swim’ fund half way towards its target of around £350,000 – needed to re-build the cover and changing rooms.

Mary Hare fundraiser Anne Mundy said: “It’s really important that we’ve got companies like UPS Systems helping us to fundraise.

“We hope to start building in the next six months and it means such a lot to the kids here.

“It’s great to have that facility for them at the weekends as well as through the week so I’d like to thank UPS Systems for all their support.”

The school’s head girl, Habiba Bernier, said: “The swimming pool is a great facility for us so it’s really good that people have raised money to help improve it.”

The staff at UPS Systems raised the money through a variety of activities this year.

Their efforts included bake sales, table sales, a bake off, spot the ball photo competitions, raffles, dress down days and various sweepstakes.

Alicia Kent and Sharon Whitelock from UPS Systems handed over the £3,000 cheque by the side of the swimming pool.

Ms Kent said: “It’s nice to give back and show our appreciation for others.

“Knowing we are helping and working as a team brings us all closer together, boosts company morale and creates an improved sense of well-being.”

Fundraising has already begun in the office for the next charity, The James Ballantyne Memorial, which is close to the company’s heart.

Mr Ballantyne, a 23-year-old former Chilton Foliat Primary School pupil from Hungerford Newtown, died in a traffic collision on the A4 at Halfway in July.

He was a popular volunteer barman at his local community pub, The Tally Ho who had completed an electronic engineering degree before returning to Hungerford to work for Fuel Cell Systems.

The fund has been set up in his name in support of young engineers.