A Preston business group has raised £14,826 in support of Trust House Lancashire with a charity ball at Ferrari’s Country House Hotel on 25th May 2018.
BNI Diamond raised the money as part of a £220k charity commitment by BNI groups in Lancashire.
The group is part of the world’s biggest referral organisation, BNI, which has over 200,000 members in over 70 countries worldwide and organises weekly meetings for groups of businesses, known as chapters, who use their combined network of contacts to find business opportunities and referrals for one another.
Late last year, the eleven chapters in Lancashire committed to gifting a seat to a chosen charity and aiming to raise £20k per year for it.
The chosen charity for BNI Diamond, which meets weekly in Preston, is Trust House Lancashire, one of 15 Rape Support Centres established by the Home Secretary in 2013.
Initially funded by the Ministry of Justice, Trust House is based in Preston and serves the whole of Lancashire and also has an outreach site in Burnley.
Trust House Service Manager Catherine Smith said: “Trust House Lancashire offers a safe place and is a specialist support service for those affected by rape and sexual abuse; women, men, children and young people.
“We believe that every individual has the right to be free from all forms of sexual violence and abuse. Trust House Lancashire’s confidential services to men, women and children place survivors at the heart of what we do, and seek to empower individuals to work through and beyond their experience of abuse.
“The funds raised by BNI Diamond’s charity ball will help us meet our commitment to providing this kind of support into the future.”
Pictured are ball organisers Jen Coulston-Herrmann, Catherine Smith of Trust House and Lee Pritchard, BNI Diamond chapter president, director of Preston-based Clear Sky ADR.
