Festival of Fun kicks off fundraising challenge for Swindon charity
Swindon residents came together to harness the power of family fun to tackle domestic
abuse at Society Without Abuse’s (SWA) Festival of Fun.
The festival, held at GWR Park, saw local people join in with family-friendly activities,
including face painting, inflatable obstacles and great local food, with a special appearance
by Swindon Town Football Club players to take on budding footballers with ‘Challenge the
Goalie’.
STFC Midfielders George Alston and Dylan Mitchell, as well as Captain of the Women’s
Team Annie Colston, stepped into the goal to face challengers of all ages.
Natasha Moyles, Operations Manager for SWA, said; “This was a great day of fun which
raised over £600 for the charity. This money will go to ensuring we can continue our work to
not only help those who have suffered from domestic abuse, but also work with the next
generation and those who currently use harmful behaviours to stop domestic abuse from
happening.
“We were delighted that Swindon Town Football Club, as well as our other great supporters
and partners including the Zurich Community Trust, came to spend time at the Festival of
Fun, helping us meet our goal of one day achieving a society without abuse.”
This Bank Holiday Monday also sees the start of SWA’s forthcoming fundraising challenge,
50 for 50. Marking 50 years since the charity opened the doors to the first refuge in the
town, the charity is asking people to do something around the number 50 to help end
domestic abuse. This could be aiming to raise £50, doing something for 50 days or 50
times, or getting 50 people together.
“Compared to the costs of delivering our services, we only receive a small proportion in
public funding. So, we rely on our community to join forces with us to not only prevent but
put an end to domestic abuse,” continued Natasha. “Our 50 for 50 Challenge means that
everyone can take part by choosing their own activity and so events can be big or small.
We’ve had some great ideas so far, including baking and selling 50 cakes, sponsored
silences for little chatterboxes, walking a mile a day for 50 days or holding a wine tasting for
50 people. If people want to join in but need inspiration, we’ll be sharing lots of ideas on our
social media pages too.”
The 50 for 50 Challenge runs from Monday 25 August until Tuesday 14 October. For more
information and to sign up, visit www.givengain.com/campaign/support-society-without-
abuse or find SWA on Facebook and Instagram @SocietyWithoutAbuse.
