More than £1,500 has been raised for a life-saving service in Shropshire thanks to the generosity of those attending the 2023 National Dyslexia Awards.
Winners, finalists, sponsors and guests from all over the UK gathered at the Mercure Telford Centre Hotel on September 23 for the annual awards and celebration event.
This year event organisers had chosen to adopt the West Mercia Search and Rescue (WMSAR) service as its charity and generous donations throughout the evening resulted in more than £1,611 being raised.
Elizabeth Wilkinson MBE, founder of the awards, said: “The Dyslexia Awards were created in Shropshire, so it is great to see such a wonderful county charity benefiting from the proceeds that we were able to raise on the night.
“More than £780 was raised from a game of heads and tails during the evening and then at the end of the event someone attending the awards agreed to match fund the proceeds, which was just incredible.
“Raising awareness within the community is at the heart of the awards and WMSAR are a heroic community of volunteers who do incredible work across Shopshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
“Whilst the awards are not about raising money, it is always lovely to be able to do a little bit of fundraising for local charities and this is the most we have ever raised, so thank you to everyone who gave so generously.”
The WMSAR service is one of the go-to organisations in searches for missing people, flood and river rescue and it is staffed by volunteers.
Steve Arnold, who joined WMSAR after hearing about the charity at the 2016 Dyslexia Awards, said the charity relied heavily on donations for its continued work and the money raised at the 2023 Dyslexia Awards would go a long way to supporting equipment and training.
Each year, organisers of the Dyslexia Awards choose a different charity to support and over the last eight years it has raised in excess of £3,700 for good causes.
Organisations to have benefited include the Georgia Williams Trust, Climbing Out, Cardiac Risk in the Young (C.R.Y) and The Fire Fighters Charity.
The awards celebration itself aims to recognise the achievements of dyslexics and shine a light on the people and organisations who recognise dyslexic talents and skills to help raise positive awareness across communities.
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