Radio appeal helps raise funds for Compton Care

Members of Compton Care took to the airwaves on Ramadan Radio to hold the fundraiser and ask for public help with donations to the pallative care service.

The broadcast on Saturday, May 23 saw partnership development manager Marianne Grant and South Asia Community Harjinder Kaur join the station to talk about Compton Care and answer questions.

The show was presented by Alvina Ali, station manager for Ramadan Radio, with help from scheduling assistant Yusuf Shafi, and saw calls and questions coming in throughout the evening.

Alvina said the broadcast had been especially valuable for learning more about pallative care and encouraging more people of south Asian heritage to consider using it.

She said: "Not many people know about it and they've got very little take up from the South Asian community and the BAME community as well.

"It was good to hear that they've had some success stories and we just wanted to make it clear that if somebody goes to Compton care, it doesn't mean that they're going to die.

"They just wanted to make it clear that if a member of the family is diagnosed with breast cancer or similar illnesses, they can make things work and loads of people have lived on to tell their story."

The show, which was broadcast in English and Punjabi, culminated in a grand total unveiling at the end of the show, with £5,576.35 raised.

Alvina said the amount raised was more than anyone had expected and reflected the scale of what community stations can do to help their communities.

She said: "The message was blowing out on the airwaves and we were thinking we'll probably get about £1,000 to £2000, but it was nice that the community came together.

"Putting something on like this for us is opening doors to other agencies, or the community initiatives that are going on in the area.

"It means that they can use the radio as a source to spread the word over the airwaves.

"At the moment, you can't go out doing fundraisers, you can't go knocking on the doors and you can't do leaflet drops, so, this has opened other avenues."

Kate Kelly, community and events manager at Compton Care, said she was delighted to be supported by Ramadan Radio and spoke about what the support meant to the charity

She said: “This is a really difficult time for charities, so having the support of our local community means everything to us.

"Donations are essential for us to continue to care for patients living with complex and incurable illnesses, whilst also taking some of the strain off the NHS."

"It certainly is the toughest of times at the moment, but we are as dedicated as ever to putting our patients first."