An appeal being launched by a local community foundation in response to the coach crash in Somerset last week is set to be combined with other appeals launched by local residents and groups, it has been announced.
The coach, which was returning from a school trip, had been carrying around 70 passengers when it left the road, including many children who were pupils at Minehead Middle School. The resulting crash left one child dead and 21 injured.
Somerset Community Foundation, a grantmaking charity which funds other local charities and community groups, announced the Together for West Somerset Appeal and Minehead Community Response Fund on Sunday.
The foundation said that it hopes the fund will provide direct support for individuals experiencing injury, financial hardship or psychological impacts from the incident, as well as help community organisations working in Minehead and the surrounding areas to provide support for those affected.
The foundation added that it will be working alongside “a range of partners”, including Somerset Council, Somerset NHS, local schools, the National Emergencies Trust, the Fundraising Regulator and the Charity Commission, in order to distribute the funds that it raises.
It also noted that it is working with two “significant GoFundMe appeals”, which have so far raised almost £54,000 at the time of writing and have been set up by local residents and the employee group for nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C, which employs many Minehead residents.
Individual appeals by members of public to be combined with official appeal
The foundation said that it was planning to distribute the funds raised by these individual appeals through its own network and was “in touch with GoFundMe, who are working with the creators of the appeals to recommend distribution of these funds via SCF’s appeal to ensure co-ordinated distribution through a registered charity”.
Justin Sargent, CEO of Somerset Community Foundation, said: “The events of Thursday are devastating for the children, families and wider community in Minehead and Exmoor and across our county.
“We know that what happened will have both immediate and long-term effects on so many people’s lives. We’re launching the Together for West Somerset Appeal to raise funds for the children, families and staff directly impacted and the wider community. We know people will want to do what they can to ease the suffering and pull together around those whose lives have changed in an instant.”
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