Middleton Rotary Club and Mayor's Poor Children fund help Holmes family

The Holmes family were left homeless fire gutted their house in Middleton

Middleton Rotary Club has donated £500 to a family of seven from Durnford Street, Middleton whose home was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Thursday 26 February.

The Holmes family were woken around midnight to the smell of smoke but luckily the parents were able to get the five children, aged between 4 and 16, out of the house and all survived, but the house was gutted by the fire.

Rotarians at Middleton administer a trust fund called the ‘Mayor's Poor Children's Aid (Middleton) Fund’, which was set up back in 1955, the purpose of which is to 'distribute funds as follows: in aid of the health & welfare of necessitous, weakly or convalescent children in the borough of Middleton'.

Middleton Rotary Club President, Keith Trinnaman said: “This was an excellent case for the MPCaF to fund as it involved children who were obviously in a desperate situation.”

“I got in touch with the two other trustees of the charity to get their approval.

“On getting I was able to get the cheque for £500 drawn up and over to the family the following day.

“None of us would wish to be in this situation and it is very hard to imagine just how we would react, but I thought it important that the family were given some immediate financial support to see them through the next few weeks.”

"The family have also received tremendous support from the local Middleton community, and Middleton Trampolining Club, where daughter Jamie Lea Ashton attends and does some coaching, have been collecting items of clothing and toys for the families future use.”

http://rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/94428/family-left-homeless-after-middleton-house-fire