Hat trick of events raises more than £100,000 for NSPCC Wales

A fortnight of fundraising events has seen more than £100,000 raised for the NSPCC’s fight to keep children in Wales safe from abuse.

A dinner at the House of Commons, a race day at Ffos Las racecourse and a golf event at the Vale Resort in Hensol, all taking place in an 11-day period earlier this month, raised the six-figure sum for the leading children’s charity.

The events began with a dinner at the House of Commons, hosted by the Secretary of State for Wales, Rt. Hon. Alun Cairns MP, raising nearly £47,000 on 9 September.

The event, which was hosted by journalist and broadcaster Eddie Butler, featured guests including Lions captain Sam Warburton and NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless.

Next up was a race day at Ffos Las racecourse in Carmarthernshire on 17 September , where fans enjoyed a number of races, an auction and question and answer sessions with record-breaking former champion jockey Sir AP McCoy and Welsh rugby players Ryan Jones, Alun Wyn Jones and Ken Owens.

The auction raised £13,550 for the NSPCC, with the day raising a total of more than £41,000.

A spokesman from Ffos Las race course said: “The day was a great success and we are proud to have hosted the charity race day in aid of NSPCC Cymru / Wales. It’s such a worthwhile and vital cause and its heart-warming to know the money raised will stay in Wales.”

And a further £12,000 was raised on 19 September with a golf day at the Vale Resort, featuring rugby players Tom Shanklin, Martyn Williams, Rhys Williams, Ieuan Evans and Tommy David, ex-boxer Nicky Piper and Only Men Aloud’s Niall Allen.

All the money raised from the events will go towards NSPCC’s services in Wales, which include Childline and Speak Out Stay Safe – a groundbreaking project which helps to equip primary school pupils with the skills they need to recognise abuse and speak out about it.

Across Wales in 2016/17 the NSPCC spoke to 58,056 children and visited 491 schools to deliver the Speak Out Stay Safe assemblies and aims to reach every primary school in the UK.

Chair of the NSPCC Cymru / Wales Fundraising Appeal Board, Alan Peterson, who is hoping to raise £3million during his three years in the role, said:

“All of our recent events have been hugely successful and enjoyed by everyone who attended them.

“We have exceeded our expectations and, incredibly, raised more than £100,000 in a very short period of time.

“I’d like to thank everyone for attending all of our events and helping us raise thousands of pounds for the vital work that the NSPCC carries out.

“We look forward to hosting more events and raising even more for the NSPCC.”

Des Mannion, head of NSPCC Wales, said: “We are committed to fighting for safer childhoods every penny raised makes a massive difference to the work we do.

“It will allow us to continue visiting schools across Wales with our Speak Out Stay Safe programme, counselling children when they need it most with Childline and supporting children directly when they are recovering from abuse.

“We would like to thank the Wales Appeal Board for all their fundraising efforts and their continued support.”