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Retired Bailiff Sir Richard Collas has joined Help a Guernsey Child's Board of Directors to help with its vital work supporting under-privileged children locally.
Sir Richard has been patron of the charity for many years and following his retirement as Bailiff earlier this year, he has decided to continue his involvement on a "more grass roots" level.
“I have been an admirer of Help a Guernsey Child for many years and have seen the directors at work, quietly and promptly responding to requests to help some of the most deserving and under privileged children in this island," he said.
"I was delighted when, after retiring as Bailiff, I was invited to join the board and I had no hesitation in accepting. It is sad that there is a need for such a charity in our island but I look forward to working with it and to helping where I can.”
Applications Administrator Alex Jenner said the emphasis has shifted in recent times to working with individual cases rather than larger projects, as this "seems to the main gap in local funding."
"Each application is considered on an individual basis and responded to usually within 48 hours. With over 180 applications a year this is a time consuming role for all involved but our directors are very much of the opinion that if a family is in crisis then there is no point in waiting for a week to make a decision."
Pictured: Other members of the charity's board include Rachel Copeland, who was awarded a BEM earlier this year.
"There are, sadly, a significant number of families which struggle to pay for the day-to-day necessities of life; many of these are in work and some unable to do so for medical/health reasons. The net result is that they simply cannot afford either capital items such as white goods or sometimes even food, clothes, toiletries, beds, safety equipment etc."
Most of the charity's applications come via professional referrals by social workers, health visitors, doctors and schools, meaning the LBG deals with a wide variety of applications "from stair gates through to complex medical equipment."
Chairman Peter Webber oversees a board featuring Clare Carre, Rachel Copeland BEM, John Hibbs and Jurat Stephen Jones OBE.
"It is such an honour to have Richard join us and to strengthen our board even further," he said. "This role will be somewhat different to his previous ‘arms length’ role but I am sure he will get used to the large volume of emails flowing backwards and forwards between us all.”
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