The Starr Trust Celebrates Its 5th Birthday

The Starr Trust is celebrating its 5th birthday on Thursday evening at the Sussex County Cricket Ground.The Hove based charity, founded by local businessman Rob Starr in memory of his late father Edward, raises money for local children and they have raised and given out over £200,000 to young people.Director Darren Abrahams says “Back in 2008 we were a few family members sitting around Rob’s coffee table with a desire to help children smile. Five years later and we have donated over £200,000 to approximately 2000 children here and abroad, created CHOCS, our programme in social entrepreneurship, and run it in 4 local schools, and built a fantastic team of 9 part time staff and numerous volunteers. Its been an incredible journey and we finally feel we know what we’re doing and how we can best serve our community and the next generation in particular. As a result we are starting our next five years with a whole new look, a new name and a new remit. We are now looking to support young people in need in the BN post code area to take advantage of training and development opportunities in sports, arts and education and we have some ambitious plans in the pipeline to achieve this goal. 2014 is going to be a very busy year!”10 to 18 year olds from across the BN postcode are being invited to visit the Starr Trust’s new website and see if they are eligible for an Edward Starr Award. Awards of up to £5,000 are given to young people who wish to take part in activities in sports, arts or education, which they might not otherwise have access to without the Trust’s support. Edward Starr Awards are not about who the young person is already but who they might become with a bit of a helping hand. The Trust is also planning a series of taster masterclasses for young people across a variety of subjects and even specialised networking events in which teenagers can make connections with local businesses and organisations.The Starr Trust’s current campaign is called ‘Change 4 Champions’ – a campaign for everyone in the BN postal code area to give their spare change to change a young person’s life. To donate £1 or more, text STAR21 and your pledge amount to 70070.