THE TOTAL amount of money raised for the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot’s Charitable Fund for the civic year 2023/24, when Cllr Chris Williams was the Mayor and Debbie Rees was Mayoress, was £13,697.75.
The money was raised via a variety of mayoral events throughout the civic year, including the successful Parc Margam 10k run in the spectacular surroundings of Margam Country Park on January 26th, 2024.
On Wednesday, November 20th, 2024, Cllr Williams returned to the Mayor’s Parlour in Port Talbot’s Civic Centre to present cheques to representatives of his two chosen charities for the year.
One of these was Harry’s Fund, a charity set up in Alltwen, Pontardawe, following the tragic death of Harry Nye Patterson in 2011. The charity aims to help those who have experienced sudden death situations.
Due to the sad passing of Cllr Williams’s wife when his daughter was just eight, he has recognised that bereavement support and counselling is extremely important and proved invaluable to his daughter throughout her young life as well as helping him during a very difficult period.
The second was the Ty Olwen Hospice based at Morriston Hospital, which does so much good work for patients and families of people suffering with cancer and other life limiting diseases.
The Specialist Palliative Care team based at Ty Olwen provides a service to Singleton, Morriston, Neath Port Talbot and outlying community hospitals. It also provides a community service to the population of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
Receiving the cheque on behalf of Harry’s Fund, Harry’s mother, Michelle Patterson, accompanied by grief counsellor and bereavement trainer for schools, Glenys Benford-Lewis, thanked everyone who had donated and taken part in the Mayor’s Charitable Fund events.
She explained the money would be used to continue the Swansea Valley charity’s provision of bereavement training for teachers, schools and children and young people’s organisations.
Michelle added: “We believe more should be done to support children and young people who have lost a loved one and we will continue to highlight the importance of grief education.”
Helen Murray MBE, Chair of the Ty Olwen Trust, thanked Cllr Williams, former Mayoress Debbie Rees and all those who provided donations and sponsorship throughout Cllr Williams’s year of office for Ty Olwen.
She said: “This money will enable us to purchase three specialist ‘rise and recline’ electrically powered chairs. These will be invaluable to our patients as it will allow them to sit out of bed comfortably while at the same time receiving physiotherapy.”
