A Shropshire charity has appointed two new members of staff thanks to the Government’s Kickstart jobs scheme.

Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, based at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, signed up to the national initiative to boost jobs for young people on the back of the Covid pandemic. The new team members will continue to support the work of the charity that supports cancer services and treatment for patients from throughout Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid-Wales.

Elliott Humphries, 25, and Nieve Murray, 20, will complete a six-month placement and be given training and skills to enable them to develop professionally.

Elliott has taken on the role of Digital Communications Officer and will focus on the charity’s social media sites promoting the hard work of volunteers and fundraising events taking place.

He said: “I’ve been given an incredibly humbling chance to work within a great charity for a worthy cause and I fully intend to make the most of it. I look forward to meeting all of our wonderful volunteers and patrons at an event soon.”

Nieve said she was looking forward to the challenge of joining the team as an administration assistant.

“I couldn’t be more excited about joining a team of such enthusiastic people who clearly care about the job they do and the people they help. It’s such a rewarding opportunity that I likely wouldn’t have come across if not for the Kickstart scheme.”

Naomi Atkins, Lingen Davies’ CEO, said the Kickstart scheme was a great opportunity both for the young people involved and for charities.

“We’re delighted to welcome Elliott and Nieve who are both enthusiastic and determined to learn from this opportunity. It’s great news for us as a charity at a time when we’re looking ahead to have this additional resource. Like lots of other organisations the last 18months have proved challenging but we are starting to see an increase in donations again and people organizing fundraising events for us which is just fantastic.”

For more information on the valuable work Lingen Davies do for cancer patients across the region visit: https://www.lingendavies.co.uk/