Every year in May, Poynton Round Table sits down to review grant requests from local organisations and decide where the previous year’s funds should go. It’s the moment when all the hard work of running the Bonfire Night and Santa’s Sleigh collections pays off in the most tangible way possible, we get to hand money back to the community that made it happen.
This year, we’re proud to share that our 2025–26 fundraising generated £20,000 to distribute.
How We Split the Pot
We divide the pot into four areas each year:
- Local Groups & Schools (30%): Thank-you payments to the organisations that make our events possible. They volunteer their time at Bonfire Night, and we make sure they’re recognised for it.
- Donation Requests (50%): Applications from local charities, groups, and individuals voted on at the meeting.
- Partner Groups (10%): Shared with our sister organisations — 41 Club, Ladies Circle, and Tangent — who each choose their own charitable cause.
- In-Year Pot (10%): Held back for urgent or time-sensitive donations that arise mid-year.
Who We Donated to This Year
After reviewing applications, we agreed £10,000 in donations for local charitable causes:
Just-Ice Poynton — £2,500
Just-Ice is an ethical ice cream café and registered charity on Park Lane in Poynton. Their mission is to support survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking, providing friendship, employment, and workplace training in a safe, caring environment. Beneficiaries join a structured employability programme, gaining qualifications and confidence to rebuild independent lives. The café is open to everyone in the community, and serves as both a training environment and a warm, welcoming hub.
PDRT has now supported Just-Ice for several years running, and our cumulative giving to them across all donation rounds exceeds £3,700. Their work is some of the most meaningful we fund and it’s right here in Poynton. Find out more, donate, or just go and buy an ice cream at just-icepoynton.org.
Poynton Pedals for All — £1,000
A Poynton-based registered charity providing inclusive cycling on the Middlewood Way for people with limited mobility, visual impairment, or disability. Their fleet includes a wheelchair bike, side-by-side tandem, traditional tandem, and tricycles. Sessions run every Wednesday morning and Saturday afternoon, free to use (donations welcome), with volunteer guide riders available.
We previously helped fund their first electric side-by-side bike, and this £1,000 goes toward a second one, extending access to more riders across the community. Book a session or find out more at poyntonpedalsforall.co.uk.
Poynton Royal British Legion — Crown Green Bowls — £1,160
The Legion on Georges Road West is a cornerstone of community life in Poynton, a members’ club with a bowling green, snooker tables, and a long history of supporting the Armed Forces community. The Crown Green Bowls lawn had fallen into disrepair, and our £1,160 goes directly toward restoring it: seed, fertiliser, and gully boards to bring the green back into active use. Crown Green Bowls is a traditional Northern sport with a loyal following, and the Legion green is one of the last remaining community facilities of its kind in the area.
Poynton Community First Responders — £1,000
Poynton’s Community First Responders are volunteers trained and dispatched by North West Ambulance Service to respond to 999 calls, arriving at the scene, often before an ambulance, to provide potentially life-saving first aid. They carry defibrillators, administer oxygen therapy, assess patients, and support paramedics on arrival.
PDRT donated the First Responders’ Kia 4×4 response car in a previous round, and this £1,000 covers the annual insurance to keep it on the road. It’s a familiar sight outside homes across Poynton. Find out more here
2nd Poynton Scouts — £882
Six lightweight tents for Cubs and Beavers, replacing ageing gear that had become too heavy for younger members to carry on camp. The Scouts are a cornerstone of community life in Poynton and regular volunteers at our Bonfire Night; getting more young people outdoors is something we all believe in.
St George’s Singers — £396
Founded in 1956 at St George’s Church in Poynton, the Singers have grown into one of the most respected choirs in the North of England, around 100 members performing at venues including the Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Northern College of Music, under conductors of national standing. They rehearse every Tuesday evening at St George’s Church Hall right here in Poynton.
Our £396 funded six metal staging frames so the choir can perform safely at concerts without relying on inadequate hired equipment. A straightforward, unanimous agreement.Find out more about them at st-georges-singers.org.uk
Poynton High School — £200
Funding for food and decorations for the school’s annual summer tea party, bringing together around 65 local elderly residents and care home visitors for an afternoon hosted by students. A modest ask for a lovely event, exactly the kind of thing that doesn’t make headlines but makes a real difference to the people who attend.
Aspire — £500
Aspire is a UK-wide charity supporting people paralysed by spinal cord injury, from the moment of injury through to independent living. One of their key programmes is accessible housing: short-term adapted flats around the UK for people discharged from hospital while their permanent home is being modified. Their Stockport property is one of those homes.
Our £500 goes toward maintenance on that flat, redecorating, fixing leaks, replacing furniture, keeping it fit for the people who need it most. Find out more at aspire.org.uk.
East Cheshire Hospice — £500
Based on Millbank Drive in Macclesfield, East Cheshire Hospice provides specialist palliative care for people living with life-limiting illness across the region, including Poynton, Wilmslow, Buxton, and Congleton. Their services include a 15-bed inpatient unit, a Hospice @Home service for those who want to remain in their own home, a daycare Sunflower Centre, and a 24-hour palliative care advice line.
Only around 17% of their funding comes from the NHS. The rest, including the specialist care beds our £500 contributes to, comes from the community. Find out more at eastcheshirehospice.org.uk.
Greater Manchester Blood Bikes — £500
A volunteer-run charity providing out-of-hours courier services across Greater Manchester — transporting blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, and donor breast milk to hospitals and hospices at nights, weekends, and bank holidays. Completely free to the NHS, with no paid staff and all costs covered by donations. In 2019, the charity estimated it had saved the NHS over £341,000 in six years.
Our £500 funds insulated boxes for transporting donor breast milk to premature babies — a practical, unglamorous, vital piece of kit for a charity run entirely by people who just want to help. Find out more at gmbb.org.uk.
Girlguiding Poynton District — £400
£100 each for four Poynton girls selected for international Girlguiding trips. These young women regularly volunteer at our Bonfire Night and Santa events, it felt right to put something back into the opportunities available to them. International trips through Girlguiding are highly competitive and genuinely life-changing experiences for the young women who earn a place on them.
What’s Next
We will continue to review grant requests throughout the year – If your organisation needs support, please get in touch.
We’re also continuing conversations with a few groups, including Lower Park Primary School’s sensory tunnel project and a potential partnership with a local men’s mental health group, Mentell.
Thank You to Our Volunteers
None of this is possible without the local groups and schools who show up year after year to help run our events. From gate duty at Bonfire Night to walking the streets with Santa, these organisations give up their evenings so we can raise money for the wider community.
This year’s thank-you payments (£9,600) went to 23 groups, including Poynton High School PTA, Cheadle Hulme Primary PTA, Richmond Rovers JFC, JFC Phoenix, Poynton District Guides, 1st Poynton Scouts, Hollies Pre-School, and many more.
Apply for a Grant
If you represent a local charity, school, or community group looking for funding, we’d love to hear from you. We review grant requests every May, and no cause is too small to consider. Get in touch via our contact page and tell us what you’re working on.
Get Involved
Everything we give away starts with the community turning out for Bonfire Night and Santa’s Sleigh Rounds. If you’d like to help make next year’s fundraising even bigger, whether as a volunteer, a supporter, or even as a new member, we’d love to hear from you.
Poynton Round Table is a group of local blokes who raise money, have a good time doing it, and put it all back into the town. If that sounds like your kind of thing, come and find us.
