LADY Pilkington joined David Pilkington, the mayor and mayoress and other guests at the official opening of a new NSPCC centre.

THE special appeal launched to mark the 100th anniversary of the NSPCC in St Helens came to a joyous conclusion with the opening of the Centenary Centre and the handing over of a cheque for £65,000 to NSPCC staff.

The appeal has hit its objective some six months ahead of target, with the final figure topping £80,000. The extra £15,000 raised will be an important start for the second year in contributing to the running costs of approximately £40,000 per annum.

At a commemorative luncheon attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of St Helens, officials of the appeal, and a wide range of supporters from businesses, Rotary and other clubs, and the council, appeal chairman Mrs Elsie Roberson said: "My first 'thank you' today goes to all the people of St Helens who responded to our appeal - including our president, vice-presidents and patrons. You have listened to the cry of help from our local children... and you have shown how much you care."

Support for the appeal has been overwhelming and has taken many different forms including:

A competition at Thatto Heath Community Primary School to design a special logo for the appeal. 72 children entered the competition and the winning design was used throughout the appeal.

MANY events... all taking a great deal of time and effort to organise, and all well supported by townspeople. The events included a Summer Fair at Windle Hall, charity golf day, coffee mornings, a beauty and fashion evening, flag days, a trip to Blackpool, a Chinese Banquet, Quiz nights, and a large number of employee fund raising activities.

SUPPORT from the Churches of St Helens. Through the Rev Christopher Byworth, Area Dean, the interdenominational network of churches in the St Helens area adopted the NSPCC as its charity for the year. As a result, the appeal has benefited greatly from toy appeals, fund-raising events and church collections.

SUPPORT of the Town Hall and many officials. Valuable information was provided in tracing the descendants of the 'founding families' of the 1896 branch of the NSPCC, and the town has continued to assist the appeal in innumerable ways, including the delightful flower bed of alpine flowers in the shape of the appeal logo outside the Town Hall last spring.

So how are the funds being used in St Helens?

NSPCC counsellors have been working in St Helens now since June of this year, initially on a part-time basis at nearby premises. The new centre began providing counselling services some nine weeks ago and, at this point the services offered are over-subscribed, demonstrating the important role which the NSPCC has to play in working alongside social services, the police and other local agencies in helping local children.

Mrs Roberson added: "I launched the appeal with these words: 'Somewhere in St Helens a child is crying:' I would like to conclude the appeal by saying 'thank you for helping to dry those tears'."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.