We’ve just made a donation of £895.32 to the Windmill Hill Community Centre in Bristol. Why? My uncle, who has been supporting the charity for decades, and PMP for nearly a decade, won the £400 Survey Draw prize on Tuesday and very generously opted to Double & Donate his winnings which included a Bonus of £47.66

Hang on, isn’t this very nearly the derivation of nepotism. Well, no. My uncle was one of the very first members to sign up back in 2011, and he’s had to wait 8 years. This is proof of the absence of nepotism. I knew he was a decent fellow, but didn’t expect him to forgo his well earned winnings for the benefit of his community.

Windmill Hill Community Centre has been at the heart of the community since 1972. It has always been entirely self-funded and run by volunteers. The space gives local people the opportunity to use exercise classes, have meetings, hold childrens’ activities, and the halls can be hired for parties. They are used by other community groups as a space for band rehearsals, art exhibitions and education classes. They even have a social club with a bar that opens every evening, giving local people a place to meet and get involved quizzes, board game evenings, and other entertainment. This donation will be used to replace their old audio-visual equipment which will really help with these activities.

It is housed in a former Church Hall which was dilapidated in 1972, falling to rack and ruin. The owning church looked at the option of demolishing the halls and selling off the land, but the cost of this was too
high. An agreement was made to rent the halls to the Windmill Hill Community Association for a period of 25 years at a peppercorn rent of £1.00 per annum. This lease required the Community Association to make all the required repairs to the building. Having done so for year, the Community Association eventually agreed to purchase the freehold from the church for £35,000 with an expensive loan from a brewery. Needless to say, a building of this age requires a great deal of maintenance, much of which is undertaken by volunteers and at a sizeable cost.

Whenever someone wins on PMP was ask if they would like to Double & Donate their winnings. Not many do, but when it happens there’s usually a good story, and a great person behind it. Would you Double & Donate? Tell us in the comments sections below.

Chris 🙂