In 2016, the Monmouthshire Building Society named LATCH its Charity of the Year, with the aim to raise as much money as possible to help support children who are being treated by the Oncology Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Wales.
Since May 2016, staff members from across the Society have taken part in an exciting range of fundraising activities, from half marathons to holistic therapy days and raffles which have helped to raise £8,394.63 to support LATCH’s essential services for children with cancer, as well as their families who are often in need of support. The charity needs to raise £600,000 a year on average in order to cover its day to day running costs which is a large task for its small team of dedicated staff.
When a child has been diagnosed with cancer or leukaemia, the chemotherapy and/or chemotherapy treatment can last from six months to three years depending on the type. Follow up treatment and checkups can mean that a child who has been diagnosed with cancer will be under medical supervision for over five years. LATCH’s wide ranging support includes on-site family accommodation, a social work service, family respite, financial and emotional support and much much more.
The mutual’s chief executive, James Bawa, said: “LATCH is a vitally important charity which, without support from the public, simply couldn’t exist. As a member owned business, it’s important to actively support our local communities, and fundraising towards the provision of their service, which supports families from Chepstow in the east to Aberystwyth in the north has been a privilege for us.
“LATCH was chosen as our charity of the year by our own staff members who were inspired by the incredible, holistic services available. Small gestures such as providing funds for families’ heating, travel or parking mean just as much as the funds they provide for specialist medical equipment and dedicated social workers and we’re thrilled to be able to help in some way towards the running costs of this extraordinary charity.”
Denise Henderson, LATCH general manager, added: “It was a great honour to be named Monmouthshire Building Society’s Charity of the Year 2016, and I would like to thank each and every staff member for their year-long programme of fundraising activities. LATCH has no paid fundraisers and we rely heavily on the generous support of the family and friends of the children we look after together with members of our local community and business organisations such as Monmouthshire Building Society in order to keep providing care and support when it really matters most.”