Streamline taxi donates £2,000 to local charities

Local taxi firm Streamline has donated £2,000 to local charities Springhill Hospice, Rochdale Foodbank and Jolly Josh.

Samena Jamiema Latif, who runs Streamline with her brother and their father, recently presented Jolly Josh with a cheque for £500, Springhill Hospice with a cheque for £1,000 and the Rochdale Foodbank with a £500 cheque.

Samena told Rochdale Online that the charities were chosen due to the effect Covid has had on them – and Jolly Josh in particular touched her and brought back memories as it’s believed her late daughter was also affected by the same condition as the cause’s namesake.

She said: “We thought it would be nice to be generous and help support them; it’s lovely to help local charities as it’s local people who use our taxis.

“We thought it best to give money to the foodbank so they could get what they need. Jolly Josh brought back memories as I had a daughter who sadly passed the same year which we also think was due to Mitochondrial Disease. She was only 11 days old and the tests were negative, but we think it was MD.”

Springhill Hospice first opened its doors back in 1989 and provides a 16 bedded purpose-built facility offering specialist palliative care to patients and their families from diagnosis to end-of-life. It relies on donations to raise in excess of £3.2m every year – or £8,928 per day – to provide its vital services.

Vicky Murray, Springhill Hospice's Corporate and Partnerships Fundraiser, said: "We would like to say a massive thank you to Streamline for their very kind and generous donation to Springhill Hospice.

"The last eighteen months have been extremely difficult for the hospice during the pandemic and we really appreciate the support Streamline Taxis has given us during this difficult time."

The Jolly Josh charity – which hosts stay-and-play sessions for children with disabilities and special needs – was started in September 2017 by Carole and James Kelly, of Wardle, after discovering there were no groups for young disabled children in Rochdale.

They named the group after their 15-month-old son, Josh, who was born with Mitochondrial Disease. He sadly died just one month before his legacy was due to begin.

 

 

The cause began with sessions at Springside with Hamer Learning Community before late Heywood businessman Peter Cordwell generously gave the local charity 10 years’ worth of free rent at Ensor Mill, Castleton, in 2019.

Jolly Josh fundraiser Sarah Ford said: “A big thank you to Samena for the very generous donations towards the completion of our venue.

“Samena wanted to support us as she knows how important it is for families with children with additional or complex needs or disabilities to have a safe place.

“We look forward to showing Samena and other members of the community around in the next few months.”

Sarah added: “Jolly Josh is well on its way to opening the centre. It’s very exciting and I’m proud to be associated with such a worthy charity.”

The venue will have a multi-functional room for various sessions, including the stay and play baby and toddler sessions, a fully accessible toilet and changing facilities, a fitted hoist to aid moving, a hydrotherapy pool and an aim to introduce more sessions, such as a youth group, music therapy, dads’ den, sibling support, palliative pals, counselling, and charity collaborations.

Speaking at the announcement in 2019, Carole, that year’s Woman of Rochdale, said: “We plan also to introduce Sensory Stimulation sessions, using modern Augmentative and Alternative Communication technologies and lights to create bespoke room for those with special educational needs and disability (SEND) to thrive.

“We hope to be able to host parties at our centre, as we understand the celebrations of birthdays for those with short life diagnosis and we also recognise that for our children with SEND that planning birthday parties can be limited, therefore we hope to be able to offer an appropriate, enjoyable venue.”

 

 

Rochdale Foodbank on South Parade in the town centre provides goods for those in need. Set up in 2012 by Iain and Margaret Wight, the foodbank operates on a voucher system, provided by over 130 agencies in Rochdale who have identified people in crisis, who may struggle to buy food.

The voucher is honoured like a cheque, in exchange for three-days’ worth of goods.

Steve Field, chair of trustees at Rochdale Foodbank, said: “This is the second time during the pandemic that Streamline Taxi have supported our work. There have been two donations of equal amounts in that time. 

“Samina and Nabil have been enthusiastic about offering their support which, of course, has been very welcome, allowing us to buy those foods that have been in short supply and support our fresh food offer. 

“They are typical of many within the community who see our role as important in helping amongst the most vulnerable within Rochdale. Without them we would not be able to provide the service and support that we do.