News & Events

Andrew is our
Marathon Man

Andrew Turner, whose son Michael attends Horsham Grasshoppers, recently ran the Berlin Marathon on Sunday 20th September and raised the tremendous sum of £2,250 for Springboard Project. Andrew works for Hiscox Insurance in London who very kindly donated an additional sum of £750 from the Hiscox Foundation.

Andrew is a keen marathon runner and is currently trying to complete the top 5 marathons in the world. So far he has run London, New York and Berlin and hopes to complete Boston and Chicago in 2010.

Andrew ran the course in a time of 2 Hours 58 Minutes and his results can be found on the Berlin Marathon website.

Some photos of Andrew’s day in the German capital are shown here and he has certainly won our grateful thanks for supporting our charity with such a tremendous effort.

Smiling Wings Day
Fairoaks Airport
Chobham, Surrey
16 April 2009

Springboard Project Activities have lift off!

On Thursday 16th April 2009, ten activities group children and their volunteers, in total numbering over 20, were invited to be guests for another of AWB's 'Aviation Discovery Days' or Smiling Wings Days as they are affectionately called. This time it took place at Fairoaks Airport near Chobham in Surrey. The event was supported by EADS and Synergy Aviation.

The weather forecast for the day was for heavy showers so the flying was started earlier than planned. After the children were given a flight briefing and a view of a static aircraft, the first of our guests took to the air at 1130. The early afternoon turned out to be pleasant and sunny and the day progressed well with everyone completing their flights by 1430. The children were then presented with flight certificates, a little Amy Bear and a mug from Synergy Aviation.

By 1500 the first heavy shower had arrived. But by then we were all in a hanger as excited guests of Surrey Police Air Operations Unit, where some of whose crew members, at very short notice, kindly showed the children over the Force's EC135 advanced police helicopter. The helicopter is used to search for, locate and track suspects on the run, vehicle pursuits and scheduled police operations and contains much high-tech equipment. The children were shown the tracker system with its video camera and thermal imager and some were allowed to climb aboard.

Synergy Aviation, who organised the flying part of the day was particularly helpful and the ground staff and pilots made the children very welcome. Thanks should also go to Surrey Police Air Operations Unit who came up trumps at the last minute. The event was a great success and it is unlikely any of the youngsters will forget their experiences in a hurry!

More information is available on the EADS site.

Eileen & Margaret's
Cross Border Challenge

Eileen White & Margaret Dawson will be trekking along Hadrian’s Wall in April 2009. They are both hoping to raise everyone’s awareness of what The Springboard Project has to offer and raise as much money as possible for our charity too.

Eileen and Margaret have already started their our fundraising efforts and have run a very successful number of events but still need you to pledge as much sponsorship funding as possible with just a few months to go.

Lord Lieutenant
Presents Queen's Award
for Voluntary Service

On Friday 22nd August, Mr Hugh Wyatt - Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex - presented the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service on behalf of HM The Queen. Cherryl Donovan, Chair of Springboard Project, was given an exclusive crystal trophy and citation signed by HM The Queen and the Prime Minister.

In the main photo, Cherryl Donovan is pictured receiving the crystal trophy from the Lord Lieutenant and the group picture shows (left to right) Cherryl Donovan with the Lord Lieutenant and Project Manager Nigel Scott-Dickeson in conversation with Sam Killbery who recently completed his sponsored bike ride from John O'Groats to Lands End raising over £3,000 for Springboard Project.

Queen pays tribute to
Springboard Project
with prestigious Award

The Springboard Project from Horsham has been announced as one of 79 volunteering groups from across the UK winning this year’s Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, recognising the outstanding contributions made to local communities by groups voluntarily devoting their time for the benefit of others.

The prestigious National Honour, which is equivalent to the MBE, sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, and the activities of those awarded have been judged of the highest standard.

The Springboard Project has received the Award from Her Majesty for its work as a community based Children’s Centre offering inclusive play and recreational activities for children and young people of all abilities.

The 2008 Award winners were selected from 379 groups nominated by members of the public who have been helped personally or witnessed the benefits of a group’s work in their community. The Springboard Project will be presented with an exclusive crystal trophy marking their success at a special local ceremony being given by the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant for West Sussex.

Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, said, "I’m sure everyone in West Sussex will join me in offering Springboard Project our congratulations and sincere thanks.

“The work of Springboard Project demonstrates the positive impact that volunteers have on communities, work they undertake without seeking any kind of accolade. That is why I’m particularly pleased their efforts are recognised by the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.”

More than 600 groups around the UK have now won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, over the six years since it was created by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002.

About the Queen’s Award
for Voluntary Service

In 2002, in celebration of Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community was established. Its purpose is to recognise groups of individuals who are giving their time freely for the benefit of others. It is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon groups of this kind and is equivalent in status to the MBE. As such, the Queen’s Award not only serves to provide recognition of volunteer groups, but also demonstrates the high respect in which volunteering is held.

Groups must be nominated for the Award – self nomination is not permitted. A group (two or more people) can be nominated if it is based in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The group has to have been volunteering for the benefit of people in the UK or overseas for at least three years and more than half its members must be volunteers who have the right of residence in the UK. Groups solely concerned with fundraising for charitable purposes are not eligible.

National Biffaward 2006

The Springboard Project was awarded the runners-up "highly commended" prize for the National Biffawards held at the Northmoor Trust in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Out of 173 nominations across the UK, only 5 projects were shortlisted for the following categories:- National Environment, Community Buildings, Outdoor Recreation and Small Grants. The Springboard Project won the runners-up award for the Small Grants category for its Jubilee Leisure Garden. The certificate was presented by one of the judges, Dr Mark Fishpool who told the audience that he was"..extremely impressed by the environmentally sustainable approach to the design to provide such an accessible play area for local children of all abilities."

Horsham's Best Awards 2006

The Springboard Project was nominated for the "Community Organisation Award" and in May we learnt that we had won this category. A presentation was made to our Project Manager, Nigel Scott-Dickeson, who accepted the award on behalf of everyone who works to make Springboard the success it is within the local community.