Caerphilly charity The Parish Trust awarded £5k from Aviva Community Fund
(LtR) Christina Rees (Marketing Data and Analytics Manager, Sarah Smith (Claims Handler, Thomas Carroll) and Rev Dean Aaron Roberts (CEO Parish Trust).
The money will go towards renovating Bryn Hall in Bedwas into a permanent home for the charity, which was supported and nominated for the award by Thomas Carroll Group
The Parish Trust has been awarded £5,000 from insurance provider Aviva, thanks to the help of Caerphilly-headquartered Thomas Carroll Group.
The Trust is a charity that was set up in 2019 by local vicar and now CEO Rev Dean Aaron Roberts who wanted to help improve communities in Caerphilly. The faith-based charity serves around 54,000 people who live in the CF83 area and offers everything from a foodbank to toddler groups, to youth clubs and crafting workshops, plus much more.
The charity lost its headquarters and was looking for a new home. But last year it was gifted Bryn Hall in Trethomas – a former OAP centre which had been left empty and neglected for more than a decade. The former OAP hall is now being renovated to become the base for its work with youth, children, and families, but will also be a centre for the whole community.
Thomas Carroll Group has supported The Parish Trust and nominated it for the Aviva Broker Community Fund and helped it apply for the award, which also match funded monies raised by the charity. In total, it has benefitted from a donation of around £18,000 from insurer Aviva.
Aviva’s Community Fund invites insurance brokers from around the UK to apply for a financial grant to help a cause that will benefit the local community with climate action or financial wellbeing in mind.
Dean explained that the money is going to massively help the charity’s overall funding goal of £360,000: “We have already had a lot of support and have been really successful in fundraising for the Bryn Hall project, but this boost in our funding has allowed us to invest in more energy efficient infra-red heating systems and also given us a general boost to our funding.
“We are very grateful to Aviva, and of course Thomas Carroll, for supporting us, nominating us and helping us get this funding. It really has made a massive difference to the charity and to the community of Trethomas and the surrounding areas.”
Sarah Smith, Claims Handler at Thomas Carroll Group, is the person who nominated The Parish Trust’s Bryn Hall project for the Aviva award. She said: “Bryn Hall is just behind my mother’s house and so I have seen it deteriorate over the years and it was such a shame to see a great community space go to rack and ruin, so I was really pleased when I heard that it had been gifted to The Parish Trust.
“I was also fully aware of the challenge that lay ahead of the charity to renovate the Hall to allow it again to be a valuable resource for the local community. So, when I heard that the Trust was fundraising to fund the build, and knowing the charitable work that Thomas Carroll does behind the scenes, I offered our help.”
Sarah added: “Thomas Carroll Group doesn’t shout about the charitable work we do, but it is a fundamental part of our ethos and one that we are very proud of and that everyone plays a part in.
“I was thrilled when The Parish Trust was awarded the £5,000 along with the match funding on top of it. I know it’s been a great boost to the fundraising pot and our support for the charity will continue.”
To learn more about The Parish Trust and the Bryn Hall project, visit: https://theparishtrust.org.uk/
