'WE ARE over the moon' was the reaction from one Gwent charity when we called to tell them they had been awarded a share of our amazing £128,000 cash giveaway.

Newport-based Raven House Trust is to receive £2,468.99 as its share of the cash.

Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing £128,000 in cash to support local charities across the country and we were delighted to have a £16,000 share of this to give away in our area.

Raven House Trust was joined by RCV UK, which is based in Risca, to be the two Gwent charities to benefit from the Cash for Charities giveaway.

RCVUK will receive £750.38.

South Wales Argus: Risca charity RCV UK have been given products to secure their scheme

Readers were initially asked to nominate charities across the area that they felt deserved a percentage of the cash.

Once we received the nominations, these were whittled down to 10 charities across our region - which also takes in West Wales, Hereford and Somerset.

Vouchers were then printed in our papers asking readers to send them in to choose which charities should get the money.

The £16,000 was then divided between all 10 charities based on the percentage of vouchers received for each one.

A spokesman for Raven House Trust said: "We are over the moon. Thank you so much. We have a foodbank and furniture bank and we are the only charity in Newport to provide furniture free to people in great need. This money will help us continue to do that."

South Wales Argus: Noreen Hinton, food bank manager at Raven House Trust.

Noreen Hinton, shop manager at Raven House Trust

Raven House Trust, is one of Wales’ longest serving food banks, which originally started out donating furniture to people in 1992, then evolving into a food bank around a few years later in 1998.

The charity collects food, furniture, bedding, toys and household items to help families and individuals who find themselves in desperate need.

They take in and are able to collect good clean furniture from in and surrounding areas of Newport. The furniture is used for families and people that go without, and, they donate these free of charge (when delivering a small fee of £25 is payable, which is used to maintain a van and driver).

In addition to food parcels and furniture the team at Raven House Trust are also more than happy to receive new toys aged from new born to 12 years for boys and girls, good clean bedding, sleeping bags, kitchen equipment and toiletries.

The team does extra boxed food parcels for the agencies who deal with homeless people.

Tara Holloway, one of the co-founders of RCV UK, said: "It is such a relief for us to be given a share of this money.

"The pressure on us to be constantly fundraising is so huge and it takes up so much of our time. It is great to receive some of this money.

"We are all volunteers and are so grateful."

RCV UK has been serving the community since 2020.

It was set up after the world went into lockdown to help the most vulnerable in the community.

Now, it has evolved from those humble beginnings to become a robust and sustainable community with more than 200 registered volunteers, helping more than 350 families weekly across Rogerstone, Risca, and the surrounding villages.

Tara said: "At RCV UK our services are sectioned into our four pillars; We Nurture, We Grow, We Share and We Connect. We are here for this community - now and always."

The charity runs a coffee shop, food pantry, allotment, bike scheme, and clubs and last year provided 56,000 meals through its Tin on a Wall scheme.

South Wales Argus: Readers' choice logo

The other charities to benefit were:

  • Marches Family Network, from the South Wales valleys (£1,694.40);
  • Vennture, from Hereford (£2,347.96);
  • Belle's Story, from Haverfordwest (£1,403.93);
  • Snap Specialist Playgroup at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest (£193.65);
  • Vale Baby Basics (£1,670.20);
  • Ferne Animal Sanctuary, from Chard in Somerset (£2,807.87);
  • Age UK Somerset (£1,767.02);
  • Escape Support Group, from Taunton in Somerset (£895.61).