Branston Kids donation

Branston's John Griffin handed over the cheque

The Lincolnshire branch of national children’s charity Kids has been presented with a cheque for more than £19,000 by potato supplier Branston.

Kids was charity of the year for Branston’s Lincoln site in 2017, with fundraisers including a 100-mile bike ride across the Lincolnshire Wolds that Branston staff, suppliers and customers took part in.

The potato supplier raised almost £13,000 for the charity last year, with the company adding an extra 50 per cent itself to bring the total donation to £19,425.

Kids Lincolnshire offers children and young people with additional needs the opportunity to attend after-school clubs and activity days during the school holidays.

Each week, local children can benefit from one trip away, one sporting day out and two sessions at local community centre St Christopher’s School in Lincoln.

Philip Greenwood, community fundraiser at Kids Lincolnshire, said: “We receive no statutory funding, so the support from local businesses such as Branston is crucial to the work we do at Kids.

“The money raised by Branston will pay for 260 day sessions, which provide children with fully supported one-to-one care, or 350 after school club sessions.

“The activities not only provide children with the opportunity to interact with their peers, but offer parents some well-deserved respite.

“All of the money raised in Lincolnshire stays in Lincolnshire, and we know this will make a real difference to the activities we can provide.”

Kids Lincolnshire invited the supplier’s staff to a ‘Strut’ creative play session at the North Hykeham Youth Centre. The team took part in a variety of activities, such as a giant parachute game, before presenting the cheque to the charity.

John Griffin, general manager at Branston’s Lincoln site, said: “We were proud to have Kids Lincolnshire as our site’s charity of the year in 2017. Their activities provide local children with some much-needed opportunities for fun, learning and adventure.

“Our team’s activities raised a fantastic £12,950.40 and Branston added 50 per cent on top of this to bring it to a total of £19,425.60.”