Express & Star

Dudley Sea Cadets celebrate Goodyear donation for new roof

Dudley Sea Cadets have a new roof over their heads thanks to a generous donation by former Goodyear workers.

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Former Goodyear worker Allan Shields and Keith Sabin, chairman of Dudley Sea Cadets, celebrate the new roof

A celebration took place to mark the completion of the improvement work at their headquarters in Tipton Road.

The unit contacted the trustees’ 5/344 Transport and General Workers Union Benevolent Fund for help funding a replacement roof at the base.

It followed a previous donation of first aid equipment and camp beds to enable the group to carry out training and other activities last year.

Chairman of the trustees Cyril Barrett said they were more than happy to assist the Sea Cadets a second time.

In total, the two projects represent a donation of more than £9,000 to the group.

Mr Barrett said: “All of us were extremely impressed by the organisation when we visited last year.

“They are giving kids an opportunity to do something worthwhile and providing first aid training and other training that will benefit them later in life and when they are looking for improvement.

“Those who run it are all volunteers, none of them are paid, and they are doing a grand job. We were over the moon to help them with another project.

“It’s a genuinely lovely charity and they are all a credit to the local community.”

The Goodyear workers’ fund was built up over more than 30 years from sickness and distress pay. This latest project is one of more than 45 that have so far been supported across the Black Country.

They include a donation of £1.5 million towards a revamp of Compton Care and almost £350,000 for vital medical equipment for New Cross Hospital.

The latest gift for the hospital was a state-of the-art simulation baby to aid in medical training, which cost £37,000. The funding also paid for eight cutting-edge anesthetic machines.

Mr Barrett said members of the fund, set up under a deed in 1985, have worked hard to ensure the money benefits registered charities helping vulnerable people across Wolverhampton and the Black Country as part of the iconic tyre factory’s “living legacy”.