STAFF from Gloucestershire Deaf Association (GDA) have welcomed a huge donation to their appeal from a Cirencester building society after a torrential downpour earlier this summer flooded their office space.

The charity’s office in Gloucester was devastated by the flood on July 25 and with the insurance company not replacing the door amid fears the flooding could happen again, Coventry building society stepped in to give a massive boost to the £1,200 appeal.

Gemma Sills from GDA said: “Coventry have very kindly stepped up and over the last few months of fundraising they’ve allocated £1,000 from their pot specifically towards the appeal for the new doors.

“I’d like to say a massive thanks to them, we’d raised some money but by them donating the £1,000 it gave the appeal a massive boost and I think it encouraged other people.

"They’ve put a lot of effort in, as have their customers who have been extremely generous so massive thanks all round.”

GDA is Gloucestershire’s only deaf charity, they support people who are born profoundly deaf as well as those who have lost their hearing through illness or age by providing a number of services that give practical and emotional support, such as lip-reading classes and hard of hearing social clubs.

Kim Eve, Coventry building society’s community champion, said she was really pleased to hand over the cheque: “It’s money we’ve raised throughout the year from cake sales, raffles and coffee mornings.

“We’ve kept it back and when I saw the door appeal on facebook I thought ‘we’ve got the money, they need it’, so we handed it straight to them.”