Chester charity asking for support in social media campaign

A Chester charity is urging people in the city to show their support to a social media ‘grant’ campaign being run by Starbucks.

The initiative offers 200 small and local UK charities across the UK the chance to compete for grants of up to £1,000 and this year, Chester-based SPACE charity has been chosen to be in the running for one through the #RedCupCheer challenge.

The challenge asks supporters to tweet the charity’s name with the hashtag #RedCupCheer on Twitter and follow its project page at www.neighbourly.com, then sharing online to help it win the cash.

It is part of a Starbucks giveaway of £150,000 to charities across the UK, and Cestrians are urged to shout about SPACE as much as possible.

The charity was co-founded by Chester mum Jemma Gregory whose daughter Isabelle has the life-limiting mitochondrial disease, aims to provide accessible play opportunities for children with additional needs and support their families. In their first year, SPACE have run 18 stay and play sessions, attended by more than 80 children and have provided support to 65 families.

Jemma said: “A grant of £1000 would make a huge difference to the charity and enable us to continue to run our stay and play sessions. We are starting a toddler group in December and parent coffee mornings very soon but we really need the support to continue this”.

The #RedCupCheer challenge launched on November 16 and runs for three weeks, with voting closing on December 6. SPACE was chosen to participate by the Starbucks store, Chester.

Simon Redfern, Starbucks’ Director of Corporate Affairs, Starbucks EMEA, said: “Since we were founded in 1971, we’ve sought to be a force for positive action in the communities we serve. By bringing customers together for some #redcupcheer, we hope to support some great local charities and celebrate the work they do every day of the year.”

The value of the Red Cup Grant each charity receives will be decided on the basis of a popular vote on Twitter andneighbourly.com, as measured and recorded by Neighbourly’s software and verified by Starbucks.