THE founder of a North Yorkshire charity has spoken about her hopes of raising awareness of the organisation in 2013.

Selby Hands Of Hope started in 2009 as a charity run by local people to provide financial aid for residents of the district, and it now wants to spread awareness of its work.

Wendy Singh founded the charity, which she still runs from her Selby home, after she was hospitalised with Crohn’s Disease in 2007.

She said: “I was diagnosed in my early 20s. Everything I was told back then was that I would never work again, never be able to do this or that, but I wasn’t having any of that. I never let it hamper me.

“In 2007 I had been receiving intense treatment and never had a day off work, then my body just crashed.

“It was the abuse of working and carrying on with life, and what should have been one major surgery ended up as three. I was extremely ill for a long time, it was pretty horrendous.”

Wendy recovered, and raised £7,000 as a thank-you to York Hospital.

She then decided to create a new charity which would assist people in need of support, not just with illness, but with any kind of difficulty.

Recently Hands Of Hope has given away almost £10,000 to a variety of groups and individuals, all raised by the charity through events which take place throughout the year.

Wendy said: “It’s taken a long time, but I would say only two people in ten know who we are, and that’s a small amount. When we’re doing bag packing, we ask and people don’t know us, so our aim this year is to get word out there.

“We need to get young people involved. Everyone associates elderly people with charity, but I always say I’m going to be the oldest involved and that’s the way it stays.

“I want teenagers, people in their 20s and 30s to be involved, because they are going to carry it on. To everyone that has supported Selby Hands Of Hope, we wish to thank you.

“Without the community support we would be unable to make a difference from myself and patrons and trustees we wish you all a happy new year.”

To find out more about the charity or to get involved, go to selbyhandsofhope.org.uk