Centenary year Barnardo's needs your support (From Western Telegraph)

Centenary year Barnardo's needs your support

DEAR EDITOR, - We would like to let your readers know that Barnardo's is celebrating a centenary in 2005.

It is 100 years since the death of its founder Dr Thomas Barnardo and the charity, which has been active in Wales for more than a century, is celebrating the difference it has made and continues to make to the lives of thousands of Welsh children.

Our modern day work in Pembrokeshire would not have been possible without the pioneering vision and work of our founder.

We no longer run children's homes, but our vision remains the same as it was in Dr Barnardo's day that every child, whatever their background or circumstances, deserves a good start in life and the chance to build a secure future.

Today we run the Pembrokeshire Community Links Services, which supports disabled children and their families.

We link a disabled child with another family in the area for regular short breaks.

The child gets the opportunity to make friends outside their own home, while parents have a break from the demands of 24-hour caring and the chance to devote more time to other children in the family.

Barnardo's Cymru also runs the Yo-Yo project in Pembroke Dock, which provides a range of support and activities to help parents give their children a better start in life.

In this our centenary year, we are appealing to your readers, young and old, to support us in continuing our work in Pembrokeshire.

There are several ways to support Barnardo's Cymru - volunteering at one of our projects or retail branches; donating good quality books and bric a brac to our shops, or by supporting fundraising.

We also ask playgroups and nurseries to take part in our annual Foresters Big Toddle for Barnardo's in June.

For more details of how you can support the charity in our centenary year, log on to www.barnardos.org.uk.

RAYMOND CIBOROWSKI, Barnardo's Cymru, Director.