Chesterfield Samaritans Donations and Fundraising

Fundraising volunteer, Olivia Manfredi, from Clay Cross, has set herself the ambitious target of raising £6,000 for Chesterfield Samaritans this year. On Saturday 25 July, Liv and her friends completed the Nine Pits Trail, walking 18.5 kilometres whilst holding a fundraising stall selling hampers and other treats. Keep up the great work Liv!

To support Olivia's fundraising challenge, please visit: https://samaritanscommunity.enthuse.com/pf/livman200

One of the first supporters to our 55 Donors for 55 Years appeal was Steve Laddiman (pictured right), whose late wife, Hazel (pictured left), was a committed and much-loved volunteer with Chesterfield Samaritans. Steve organised a World Cup fundraising competition among friends and family, raising an incredible £959 for the appeal.

The branch has received a generous donation from Premier Community as part of the organisation's 30 for 30 campaign, which celebrates the company's thirtieth anniversary through a series of acts of kindness across the local community. Premier Community donated enough money to fully fund the training of two new listening volunteers. After visiting the branch and meeting volunteers, Amanda Winnard, Workforce Development Manager and Wellbeing Lead at Premier Community, said:

"It was a pleasure to meet the fantastic team at Chesterfield Samaritans. We were delighted to make a donation that will help fund the training of two new volunteers, enabling even more people to receive support when they need it most."

As we celebrate our emerald anniversary, we're inviting local people to become one of our 55 donors for 55 years. Every donation, whatever the amount, will help us continue providing a safe place for people to talk and ensure we're here for our community whenever we're needed.

The appeal officially launched on Friday 24 July, Samaritans Awareness Day (24/7), when volunteers were at the Pavements Shopping Centre from 11am, meeting members of the public and raising awareness of the charity's work. A series of anniversary and awareness displays will remain in the shopping centre throughout August, encouraging more people to learn about Samaritans and the support available.

To see a Derbyshire Times article about our 55th anniversary click here

Many people don't realise that although we're part of Samaritans' network of more than 200 branches across the UK and Ireland, Chesterfield Samaritans is also an independent local charity. We're responsible for raising our own funds, recruiting and training volunteers, maintaining our building and ensuring our service continues to be available for people across Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.

To support the 55 Donors for 55 Years appeal, visit:

https://samaritanscommunity.enthuse.com/chesterfieldsamaritans/profile

Here we see our Outreach Leader (left) and our Treasurer (right) at the above Rotary Club event, attended by the charities they support. We are glad to have our important work recognised and are grateful for the continuing support provided by the club.

Congratulations to the heroic Alice Cooper (pictured left), a former listening volunteer, who recently ran the London Marathon to raise money for our branch. Alice’s story is deeply personal. She lost a close friend, Emily Turnbull, (pictured right) to suicide in 2015. Alice later went on to volunteer with Samaritans in Chesterfield. She decided to take on the challenge of the marathon to raise awareness of the importance of listening support, as well as to raise money to help the branch continue its important work.

Alice’s own journey is quite remarkable. She confesses to never having been a sporty person and certainly not a runner. She started Couch To 5K (the beginner’s running programme) and never looked back. She had to balance her busy life, working full-time, with her training programme, running in wet, winter weather.

Alice set out with a target to raise £500 for the branch. Many people have been full of admiration for Alice taking on such a difficult challenge, but for such a worthy cause. At the last count she’d raised over £1500, more than 3 times her target.

You can learn more about Alice, the things which have motivated her and her recognition of the importance of our listening service in the article published in the Derbyshire Times, available here.

Below we see our Treasurer, Dave Maddox, who is delighted to have received a cheque for £2,285.91 from Lynne Pope, Marketing Manager at Banner Jones Solicitors. The donation reflects Banner Jones’ long-standing commitment to giving back to the communities in which its staff and clients live and work. They have made other donations in the past and we remain most grateful for their continued support.

Pictured below are Chesterfield Rotary president, Catherine Wenborn (left) with Chesterfield Samaritans director Gaby Vauclair (right). Gaby recently visited the Rotary Club to thank them for a donation of £560 from their Christmas Fayre 2025. She took the opportunity to give a presentation about Samaritans and answered questions from their members, who took a great interest in what we do. 

Below we see Faye and her colleagues at the Gallery Café in Bakewell who’ve raised over £175 for our branch over the last 2 years. They think Chesterfield Samaritans do a great job. They’re pleased with the money they’ve raised and they should be. It’s contributions like these which keep our branch going and enable us to carry on our important work.

Pictured below are members of our Chesterfield Samaritans walking group who recently walked in the Foolow area in memory of Anna, a founder member of our walking group, who lived in the village. They took advantage of tea and cakes provided in the village hall by husband Steve, who generously donated over £500 in proceeds to our branch.

Here we see our Treasurer thanking Co-op Florists for their involvement with the Afternoon With Flowers fundraising event which took place recently in Holymoorside. There was a flower demonstration, various stalls and a raffle. All proceeds were shared between Chesterfield Samaritans and Parkinson's UK. We are aways most grateful for fundraisers like this.