ELEVEN charities have been given a boost with cash donations.

The Southend Airport Community Team organised a number of events last year to raise £10,000 cash for Havens and Little Havens Hospices, Southend Universality Hospital’s Keyhole Cancer Appeal and Turning Tides/SAVS.

Now the Stobart Group and London Southend Airport are match funding an extra £10,000 to good causes and community groups throughout Essex.

Homeless shelters, children with life-changing illnesses, young people with dementia, others with disabilities and the elderly are amongst those benefitting.

Amy Such, from the London Southend Airport Community Team, said: “We sought to benefit a wide range of local causes and have selected those which applied for specific items, for example wheelchairs, children's gift boxes and certain courses of medical treatment, rather than those organisations who simply asked for money.”

The charities that benefited include Disability Information Advice Line (DIAL) who will sponsor a specialised wheelchair, which will be situated on Southend seafront and will enable disabled children to access the beach and lagoon areas safely and Canvey Island’s Indee Rose Trust who will use the money to fund ‘treasure boxes’ for children with brain tumours.

Southend Hospital will buy new furniture for patients and their relatives to use during treatment and when spending time in the Elizabeth Loury Cancer Ward Garden. The hospital will also purchase a highly specialised chemotherapy treatment chair.

Rochford-based the Peaceful Place assists young people coping with dementia and will now be able to buy a lifting hoist for its minibus.

The Storehouse in Southend works will use its cash boost to provide essential support for poor and disadvantaged families in the town.

Unlock-a-Life for Lockey supports children with terminal illness and will use its donation from London Southend Airport to buy special craft boxes.

Isabella is a young, local girl with a rare chromosome disorder and needs funds to access treatment only available in Slovakia.

The Project Shop in Westcliff will now be able to buy a pre-owned estate car, in which to transport tools, material and plants as part of its service to help elderly people maintain their gardens.

Southend’s Isaiah Project helps the homeless and always needs money to provide essentials such as sleeping bags and toiletries for rough sleepers.

Chalkwell Methodist Church also engages with Southend’s homeless people and provides day to day essentials for those coping with life on the streets.

Commenting on the awards to the organisations, Glyn Jones, CEO Stobart Aviation said: “These latest eleven charities are all great examples of the projects being run in the communities and I am proud that we can play our part in helping them to continue their admirable and heartening work.”

The charities were all presented with their cheques during an event at the London Southend Airport Holiday Inn on Tuesday 21 February 2017.