A Smile for a Child chase the million

A County Durham charity is smiling as it approaches an impressive £1m fundraising milestone. A Smile For A Child, based in Barnard Castle, is run entirely by volunteers and raises cash to help disabled children to participate in sport. The charity, founded by Chris Read six-and-a-half years ago, has already raised and given away £250,000 in the last year. But it’s now just a few thousand pounds away from hitting the magical £1m mark since its inception. Thornaby-based workwear supply firm M.I. Supplies recently produced specially-made t-shirts and gillets to enable the charity to continue its good work. The t-shirts were used for volunteers to take part in this year’s Great North Run, while the winter-warm gillets will be used by people collecting money for the charity. Chris said: “It’s thanks to companies like M.I. Supplies who have supported us that we’ve been able to reach this figure. “We just want to make a difference. We don’t have events, offices, overheads or wages, we’re run entirely by volunteers who go out collecting money – we raise the money and literally give it all away. “These new gillets are fantastic for our volunteers when they’re doing collections. We also need to stand out in crowds and this does the job brilliantly.” A Smile For A Child organises bucket collections at shopping centres, supermarkets and bus and train stations across the North-East, and has more than 20 volunteers who regularly give up their time. Chris added: “We can raise £1,200 in three days which can buy a specially-adapted wheelchair, and that can make a huge difference. “We encourage people to apply to us for grants, and we sometimes encourage them to fundraise themselves and then we’ll fund-match them. “It’s very humbling when you see what families are prepared to do, just to be able to get equipment for their children to be able to play sport. “Sometimes this is the one thing that keeps the youngsters going because otherwise there’s not a lot of sports activities for them to do.” M.I. Supplies, based at Teesside Industrial Estate in Thornaby, has a growing client base consisting of more than 250 business customers including the fire brigade, local councils, engineering firms and charities. More than 26,000 customers have ordered supplies from the company’s website, and brands supplied by M.I. include Sainsbury’s, Barbour, Aldi, Lidl, Royal Mail and Mercedes. Managing director Alex Ingham said: “We were made aware of the charity through neighbours and we think the work they do is fantastic. “We look forward to seeing A Smile For A Child reaching that brilliant £1m fundraising mark and continuing to bring smiles to children’s faces.” To fund out more about A Smile For A Child, and to apply for grants, go to www.asmileforachild.org