A perinatal mental health charity experiencing funding difficulties has been given a boost – thanks to kind-hearted employees at a Sandbach firm. 

Big-hearted employees at major security fencing firm, CLD Systems, in Moston Road held a Pancake Day fundraiser for the charity Smile. 

And the employees, who enjoyed the delicious pancakes on offer helped boost a 'Go Fund Me' campaign launched by Smile by just over £300, adding to a 'Crowdfunder' appeal with a target of £15,000. 

The organisation has launched a 'Go Fund Me' campaign due a number of grants that were anticipated but have not materialised and is now urging others to follow in the footsteps of CLD Systems. 

Ruth Williams, Operational Director and Co-founder of Smile (pictured above) popped to CLD's offices to see the pancake event in action. 

She said: "We're blown away by everyone's collective generosity since we shared the news about our current situation and reduced service from March (hopefully a temporary measure). 

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"People have been so supportive and given personally or via their companies and our crowd funder has now surpassed the £3,000 mark. We'd like to say a wholehearted thank you to everyone for their kind donations." 

Ian Lewis, a design engineer at CLD Systems who arranged the pancake event said: "Every month, CLD nominates different charities to support, and these nominations come directly from our employees. 

"This month, our chosen charity is Smile Group, which provided invaluable help and support to myself and my family following the birth of my son." 

Smile is 13 years old and say their blend of services has increased year-on-year due to capacity issues across the health system and high thresholds for specialist perinatal mental health services. 

"In the spirit of honesty, we'd like to acknowledge how challenging the third sector is right now," they say in their crowdfunder. 

"Budget cuts in statutory provision are being felt viscerally in the grassroots and grant opportunities are more competitive than ever, so while the quality of our submissions hasn't changed, the chances of securing funding have diminished significantly. 

"A number of grants that we anticipated would come in have not come to fruition, which is symptomatic of what is happening more widely across the charity sector. 

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"From 1st March 2024 we will, unfortunately, be reducing our service offer to responsibly manage the situation, while enabling support services to continue." 

Smile say the crowdfunder will enable people to give as much as they feel able to, whether they are a current or former beneficiary, a stakeholder, 'friend of Smile' or a business who is moved to give back. The link to the Smile crowdfunder is here 

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