In lieu of sending out Christmas cards this year, Maria was delighted to present Greendale Christmas Charity runners-up, Dorset Mind and Friends of Dolphin, with cheques for £500 each.
Dorset Mind provides a variety of support options across Dorset. Its resilience-focused support groups educate people about the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and support people to identify and develop new coping skills. Dorset Mind also run an accredited one-to-one befriending programme, designed to help people regain confidence and social skills. The content of the organisations services and support groups are both preventative and restorative.
Additionally, Dorset Mind works in partnership with local decision makers and influential organisations to encourage social inclusion and improve mental health services to meet the rising demands of our communities. The money donated by Greendale will be used to support Dorset Mind Your Head – a whole-school approach which provides comprehensive lessons and assemblies in schools and workshops in youth groups that help support young people. It also supports parents, teachers and those young people that don’t attend school due to their mental health.
Friends of Dolphin was conceived in 1979 as a special project by the Rotary Club of Parkstone to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Rotary International. The first boat, Dolphin I, was launched on 23 February 1980. On the 21 August 1982 Parkstone Rotary Club handed the project over to the Trustees of the newly formed Friends of Dolphin Charity and it has remained as a self-supporting charity ever since.
The charity’s first boat, Dolphin I was replaced by Dolphin II in 1990, and both these boats were flat bottomed with a bow loading ramp which made them ideal for embarking wheelchairs from a slipway. Dolphins I and II were both built by Rotork/RTk Marine in Hamworthy. In 2008 they acquired Dolphin III built on the Isle of Wight by Cheetah Marine. This totally new design enables them to embark their passengers direct from a pontoon in the Poole Harbour Marina. All three of the Dolphin boats were specially adapted to carry disabled people of all ages and disabilities, particularly those in wheelchairs or with physical disabilities.
The Friends of Dolphin Charity is run entirely by volunteers and is completely non-profit making. All the money donated by Greendale, as with all funds raised, will be put directly towards the running and operational costs of Dolphin III. The single purpose of the Charity is to provide free trips in Poole Harbour for disabled persons of all ages and disabilities who are unable to use the regular Poole Harbour pleasure craft.