THE Saxongate Appeal, supported by The Hunts Post, continues! There is £250,000 left to meet the target to help complete the groundbreaking Saxongate Community Learning Centre that everyone can see taking shape at the top of Huntingdon High Street. Launch

THE Saxongate Appeal, supported by The Hunts Post, continues!

There is £250,000 left to meet the target to help complete the groundbreaking Saxongate Community Learning Centre that everyone can see taking shape at the top of Huntingdon High Street.

Launched in June last year by regional disability charity, the Papworth Trust, many businesses and individuals have already raised money in many different ways for the £2 million appeal.

Supported by this newspaper, the appeal is the biggest-ever for us, and we still need your help to keep the momentum going in the final few months to reach the target.

Saxongate Community Centre (opening in autumn 2006) will provide a range of education, social and leisure opportunities. It is being built to be fully accessible, allowing disabled people to access the services available alongside other members of the community - everyone in Huntingdon and beyond can use this facility, so we want everyone to get behind this project.

Before Christmas, this paper reported the support for Saxongate from some town businesses.

For example, in the run-up to the festive season, Julian Graves healthy snack food store in Chequers Court, joined the appeal, pledging their support and urged shoppers to drop in and find out ways to help raise money. Pam and Sue, who work in the shop, organised a children's competition in three categories. With a Christmas theme, children aged between three and six, and seven to nine, completed a colouring competition, while those over nine competed for a word search and anagram. The prizes were 'paint your own mug'. There was also a prize draw for shoppers to win a Christmas gift box of items from the shop.

The winners of the various categories were: three-year-old George Lindsell-Mansbridge, eight-year-old Emily, and Alex, aged 10. Mick Chandler won the gift box. The total amount raised for the appeal was £70.80. Julian Graves is going to continue its fundraising for Saxongate in the coming months.

There are a number of other events planned for the Saxongate appeal - the first of these is Saxongate Week being held in Huntingdon February 4-11. There will be various fundraising activities taking place during the week (more details in coming issues of The Hunts Post).

However, tickets are on sale now for Recent Archaeological Work in Huntingdon - an evening of talks by Cambridgeshire County Council's Archaeology section on recent finds in the town. One of the main events of the Week, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Saxongate appeal. This is a great opportunity to hear all about these exciting finds as well as helping to raise money for the appeal.

Also, staff from the County Archaeology Office will be on hand to do their version of The Antiques Roadshow by helping to identify any archaeological artefacts brought along by the audience. The event takes place in the Commemoration Hall, Huntingdon. Tickets are £5 in advance and £6 on the door. The doors open at 6pm, there will be artefact displays and finds identification from 6-7pm and talks from 7-9.30pm. To book in advance contact The Papworth Trust on 01480 357257, www.papworth.org.uk

Stressing the importance of raising this final amount, senior development officer at the Papworth Trust, Mandy Barker, commented: "We are delighted to have the support of Julian Graves and other shops in Huntingdon for this community project as the appeal continues. Fundraising does not need to be complicated - the simplest initiatives raise vital money for us.

"Although the appeal has gone very well, we still have a major amount left to raise and we would welcome everyone thinking about ways they can raise money. Whether people are able to give £5 or £5,000 every donation is important - we hope that everyone will get on board to help reach the target and complete the building."

INFORMATION: If you are interested in organising an activity to raise money for the Saxongate appeal, or would like to get involved in any way, and help raise the final £250K, please contact Mandy on the project hotline 01480 357257. Or look at the Saxongate web site by clicking on the pink Saxongate icon on www.papworth.org.uk