A SUPPORT group set up a year ago to give vital backing to stroke survivors in the Ely area has been given a birthday boost by philanthropic businessman Carl Lamb.

Pos + Ability received a �500 gift as part of Mr Lamb’s �10,000 charity give away, and the same amount of money has been presented to the Cambridge and Ely Child Contact Centres.

Sandra Shastid, one of three care providers who set up Pos + Ability, last October, said: “This is a wonderful anniversary gift. It gives us financial security for another few months while our application for registered charity status is processed.”

Sandra and two colleagues set up Pos + Ability when support facilities for stroke survivors were trimmed back, and they lost their jobs.

Sandra said: “We used our redundancy money to form Pos + Ability and we now run two sessions a week at Ely Paradise sports centre and one at Histon’s Recreation Ground sports hall.” The gift from Mr Lamb, the managing director of financial advice firm Almary Green, will help pay for a wheelchair-accessible exercise cycle.

The child contact centres charity help children caught up in acrimonious family splits to spend quality time with the parent they no longer live with. Phil Parker said: “We don’t get a lot of outside financial help and we have to make every penny count. We have a budget of about �7,500 a year so this award represents a big percentage of our income.”

Mr Lamb’s cash giveaway is a repeat of an initiative he started last year, to celebrate his company’s tenth anniversary. Other awards have included �300 to help Cambridge Family Mediation Service upgrade their website

Mr Lamb said: “Business is not all about making money. We have had a successful year, and I believe that means we have a responsibility to reinvest in the community and have a duty to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.”