Charity receives second anonymous £10k donation

The Hive launched a £50,000 fundraising campaign in July and is now more than half way to meeting its target

An arts and wellbeing charity has received a second anonymous donation of £10,000 as part of a major fundraising campaign.

The Hive, in Shrewsbury, has supported almost 50,000 children and young people through more than 200 different arts projects over 19 years.

However, the charity launched a £50,000 fundraising campaign in July to cover increased demand and rising costs, in order to enable its survival.

Thanks to the anonymous donation, the campaign has now reached £29,000, meaning the charity is more than half of the way to reaching its target.

The Hive said the donation came from "a generous local charity trust, who wish to remain anonymous".

They said trustees had visited The Hive recently to speak to its CEO and venue manager, to find out about the work they do and the opportunities they offer young people across Shropshire.

Earlier in August, the charity had received another anonymous donation of £10,000, with £2,500 in Gift Aid available for the donation.

The anonymous donor only dropped in briefly to hand over the cheque and CEO Katie Jennings said: "There were several of us in the office and we were just absolutely flabbergasted and overjoyed.

"It gives me goose bumps just talking about it."

The charity has supported almost 50,000 children and young people over the past 19 years

The charity launched the Save the Hive campaign as it required "an immediate cash injection to survive and meet the increasing demand for its services".

The organisation said it was struggling due to high demand for funding grants and, despite meeting criteria, it had been "knocked back by the sheer volume of applications".

Additionally, the charity said its energy bills had quadrupled.

"We find ourselves in a challenging climate where we need to appeal for help from our local communities to get through this tough time so The Hive can stay open, and continue to be a safe place for young people for years to come," Ms Jennings said.