Haverfordwest Services Club Charity Fundraising

Haverfordwest Services Club raised just over £1,500 for charity in 2017 through dedicated fundraising by the club's Entertainments Committee, bar staff, and the support of many of its members. Cheques were presented at the Services Club on Tuesday 16 January to representatives of the three local charities chosen by the club's Committee as recipients of this fundraising effort: Wales Air Ambulance, Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru and Breast Cancer Care Cymru.

Representing Wales Air Ambulance were community co-ordinator Tony Key OBE, who accepted a cheque for £750 from Club Secretary Richard Howell, and volunteer John Hardwicke. The Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru were represented by founder member and senior ambassador Dai Davies MBE, who accepted a cheque for £375, and by Chairman Brian Harries BEM. A cheque for £375 was presented to Breast Cancer Care Cymru volunteer Angela Mee.

Features linking all three charities include, firstly, that the services they perform are delivered locally, in Pembrokeshire and west Wales. Secondly, these services all result in the saving of lives, through, for example, the rescue by helicopter of people in distress and from places where they cannot return to safety unaided; awareness raising across Pembrokeshire of the crucial importance of early detection of prostate cancer; and the provision of clinical expertise, services and campaigning to help ensure that every person in Wales affected by breast cancer gets the best treatment, information and support available (and, again, that the importance of early detection is promoted).

Local fundraising such as Haverfordwest Services Club's is vital to the ongoing operations of charities such as Wales Air Ambulance, the Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru and Breast Cancer Care Cymru. For example, since it was established on St David's Day in 2001, Wales Air Ambulance has made 28,000 flights: the current cost of getting a helicopter in the air is £1,500. The detection rate of prostate cancer in Pembrokeshire is twice as high as in any other area in Wales, thanks to the Pembrokeshire Friends' awareness raising (99% of men contracting prostate cancer will live for at least another 10 years provided the condition is detected early).

Representing the Haverfordwest Services Club at the 16 January cheque presentation were: Chairman and Trustee John James, Trustees Gail Rees, Linda Buttle and Brian Griffiths, Committee Member Tammy Cuff (who, with Sue O'Neill and Christine Steer, is also on the Club's Entertainments sub-Committee), and Secretary Richard Howell.