A SECOND year of fundraising in aid of the Brighter Futures Appeal has paid off at the Coleview Community Centre, who more than doubled their efforts on the year before.

A delighted team of supporters have now presented the Brighter Futures team with a cheque for £9,000 following a year jam-packed with events to help bring radiotherapy treatment closer to home.

“What we’ve achieved at the Community Centre, raising £14,000 in just two years, has simply blown us all away. It’s exceeded all our expectations,” said Jake Henley, who sits on the Coleview Community Centre committee.

“It makes it all worthwhile, the amount of time we put in as volunteers organising and carrying out events. The support we’ve received from the local community has been overwhelming.

“Raising so much money for the Radiotherapy Appeal, for something the town desperately needs, is just fantastic. I think that the local community appreciates the importance of having a radiotherapy unit here in Swindon. Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer and knows someone that has had to make the trip to and from Oxford.

“People see how their loved ones are affected by this, or how their friends are affected when one of their family is going though it and I just think it strikes a chord with everyone.”

As well as the popular return of the Oktoberfest beer festival in the autumn and the family fun day a few weeks earlier, the committee has staged a number of fundraising events throughout the year, all of which have attracted support from residents in the community who have dug deep in the name of the appeal.

Jake praised the residents, without whom the donation would not have been possible. He said: “At the community centre we have a lot of very loyal supportive people, who back everything we try and do when it comes to events, in particular the family fun day and the beer and music festival. They are so well supported and the events would fail without them.

“The local bands are just amazing. They must see me coming now, but they are all incredibly supportive and go out of their way to help me out wherever they can.

“We’ve also organised charity dinner dances and gigs and these are so well supported. At times, we could do with a bigger room!

“We’ve got plenty of events planned for the coming year, but the main events are a dinner dance on April 1 with a fantastic local band, the family fun day planned in for Saturday, September 9, and the beer and music festival from Thursday, October 5, until Sunday, October 8.

“We also raise money during our fortnightly quiz nights at the centre - the quiz nights raised over £1,000 alone last year.

“We’re also looking into the possibility of organising gin and whisky tasting evenings and possibly a cocktail night! There are bound to be a few gigs along the way as well.”