Darlington Building Society has made a donation of £250 to STAMP Revisited, a charity that provides anadvocacy service for people affected by mental health difficulties in Teesside.
The contribution comes from the Society’s community fund, which donates to local charities and community projects. It will provide funding for the advocacy services that STAMP Revisited delivers on a one-to-one basis and in groups, as well as enabling the charity to give further training to its volunteers, many of whom are former service users who want to give back to the organisation that helped them.
Clare Mason, Customer Service Consultant at the Middlesbrough branch of Darlington Building Society was the person who initially nominated STAMP Revisited to receive the donation. She said: “We chose STAMP Revisited because of one of the experiences of one of our loyal customers. They had been through a hard time and had used STAMP Revisted’s services.
“After we looked up the charity we discovered how hard they work with little fanfare. They offer excellent services with little recognition or support, so it seemed to us like they deserved a helping hand.”
Colin Fyfe, Chief Executive of Darlington Building Society said: “The Society is committed to supporting community initiatives and organisations and a major part of this commitment is our support of local charities such as STAMP Revisited.
“STAMP Revisited do excellent work with those afflicted with mental illnesses in Teesside and provides them with the opportunity to put their opinion forward and to have a positive effect on the services they receive.”
Ian MacFarlane, Project Manager for STAMP Revisited, said: “We’re very grateful to have been selected by the Middlesbrough branch of the Society. The donation will help us to assist those who are most in need within our community.
“Mental illness is different to other illnesses. If you have broken leg then everyone can see your cast, but if you have broken mind, no one can see that. It’s important that we are in a position to be able to help those people get back on track and provide them with the tools to be able to help themselves.”