OVER £90,000 RAISED TO HELP THOSE IMPACTED BY CROYDON TRAM DERAILMENT
Direct donations and a crowd-funding page set up by Croydon council to help the bereaved families and those injured by last November’s tram derailment have so far raised more than £90,000.
Kind-hearted residents and local companies have generously donated to the fund, which is supported by the Mayor of London and the Croydon Advertiser.
The Just Giving page, which now totals over £31,000, closed at midnight on 14 December following a private memorial service held at the scene of the accident. Once closed the money is able to be released and distributed to support those affected.
A further £60,000 has been raised through generous donations from local businesses and organisations. These have been directly donated to the fund. The Mayor of Croydon raised £2,500 through a fundraising event and the Croydon Advertiser donated the same amount from sales of the newspaper.
The council have enlisted the help of registered charity The London Community Foundation to administer and distribute the funds. The foundation is experienced in delivering charitable support to local communities and people across the capital.
Croydon council leader Cllr Tony Newman said: “The generosity and compassion of people has been overwhelming. “We’ve seen almost a thousand individual donations through the Just Giving page, and I’m immensely grateful to those businesses that have boosted the fund so significantly.
“Money only goes some way towards helping those affected by tragedies such as this. “But along with the tremendous support offered by the local community I hope it will offer some comfort to those who lives have been changed forever because of what happened.”
If people do still wish to make donations they can find details of how to do so at www.croydon.gov.uk/tramincident. (Source: Croydon council press release)