Sheffield charity smiling after SIV's serves up £2,000 donation

SIV raised £2,445 for A Smile for a Child with a raffle and auction at its Annual Awards evening held at Sheffield City Hall.

SIV is part of the not-for-profit Sheffield City Trust (SCT) whose primary objective is to improve the health and wellbeing of Sheffield people by providing facilities for sport and leisure activities.

Raffle prizes included a night in the penthouse suite at the Copthorne Hotel, tickets to Leeds Festival and an evening at Owlerton Greyhound Stadium.

An auction of boxing gloves signed by SIV-based boxers Anthony Joshua and Nicola Adams raised £425.

A Smile for a Child provides grants to clubs, organisations and families across Yorkshire to help disabled and disadvantaged children participate and progress in sport.

Chris Read, chief executive at A Smile for a Child, said: “We we’re absolutely over the moon to have been chosen as SIV’s charity partner for their 2016 Annual Awards and even more thrilled to receive such a big donation.

“It will go a long way to funding sports activities or equipment such as a specialist wheelchair for disabled and disadvantaged children in Yorkshire and we’d like to thank everyone at SIV for their generosity and incredible support.”

The evening also included a table tennis display by members of the BTTAD (British Table Tennis Association for Disabled) ParalympicsGB squad who are based at SIV’s English Institute of Sport Sheffield.

Steve Brailey MBE, chief executive of SIV, said: “Every year, we choose to support a different local charity and this year’s Annual Awards theme was ‘Smile’ so it seemed fitting to raise money for Chris and the team at A Smile for a Child.

“Across our venues, we run sessions specifically tailored to people with disabilities and we’re also home to many ParalympicsGB athletes training for Rio 2016. Supporting Smile for a Child is another way in which we are encouraging people of all abilities to be able to enjoy sport and leisure activities.”