Mansfield charities to benefit from £18,000 business donation

Having been involved in various charity fundraising projects in the past, fabric company Romo launched the Romo Community Fund, a new grant scheme working in partnership with Nottinghamshire Community Foundation.

Volunteers from across Romo’s head office sites formed a staff panel and selected three local organisations to receive the community fund for 2020.

With a total fund of £18,000, three charitable organisations have been gifted £6,000 each.

One of the charities benefiting is the Dallas Street Resource Centre, Mansfield’s Employability Skills Programme. This is a charity working with children and young people that have been excluded from mainstream education to provide alternative forms of education. Romo’s funding will allow Dallas Street to run an employability skills program for young people who may not be ready to access college, training or the world of work.

Money was also given to the Ashfield Citizens Advice Bureau, Kirkby-in-Ashfield’s MIND Outreach Service. An independent charity providing free, confidential and impartial advice on issues affecting people’s lives, Romo’s funding will cover the costs of a MIND mental health recovery worker to attend the Ashfield Health and Wellbeing Centre one day per week, offering one-to-one counselling sessions and mental health support for local people that are in crisis.

The last chosen charity was Freedom Foundation CIC Nottingham’s music and dance workshops. Freedom Foundation delivers creative programs which introduce children and young people to performing arts as a way of increasing their self-esteem, resilience and confidence. Romo’s funding will provide a series of music and dance workshops for different age groups in a local Ashfield school over the course of one year, covering issues such as digital and social media safety, understanding bullying, friendship and fairness, exploring the importance of self-worth, coping with the stresses of exams and other pressures.

Founded in 1902 by Robert Mould, Romo is a family-run fabric business in its fifth generation.