The team at Swindon’s Platform Project are supporting a ‘Go Orange’ fundraising campaign for the Kit Tarka Foundation.
To date, the team has raised more than £1000 for the foundation, which works to prevent new-born baby deaths primarily through raising awareness of neonatal herpes (HSV Type 1), also known as the cold sore virus.
The virus is found in 70 percent of adults and, although often asymptomatic, is fatal when passed on to babies.
In February of this year Fiona Simpson, a part-time youth development manager at The Platform Project, lost her nephew, Joshua, to the virus at just eight days old.
She said: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support of the interns and our ever-growing team of staff who have been extremely supportive with this fundraiser.
"The interns decided to support this charity as part of their social impact project, which is one of the many projects they work on whilst they are on their internship program.”
The team of interns at The Platform Project have arranged several fundraising activities including a sponsored 200 metre ‘dino obstacle race’ with participants dressed up as giant dinosaurs, a cake sale and a 13-mile hike across the Ridgeway undertaken by youth worker Phoebe Jerman.
In addition to this, they are setting up an online gallery, which will showcase some of their work around the fundraiser from artwork to poetry, and they have also designed t-shirts which will be sold with all proceeds going to the Kit Tarka Foundation.
The Platform Project, based in Dorcan, is now in its fourth year and is a social enterprise that runs developmental internships to help prepare people aged 16-21 for the work environment and take their next steps into a career.
Fiona and The Platform Project team hope that their fundraising efforts will not only help raise money for the Kit Tarka Foundation but, more importantly, raise awareness of something that very few people know about.
Donations can be made at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ThePlatformGoOrange
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