Millions were raised to help flood victims

An appeal was set up and donations began to flood in from people shocked by the disaster.

By the first day, £25,000 had been raised.The pounds piled up and by the end of January, a massive £1m was raised.

But the donations didn’t stop there and the grand total eventually stood at £3.1m, which includes £1.5m of government matched funding.

A huge concert at Halifax’s Victoria Theatre helped to raise thousands for the fund.

As well as the appeal, the foundation offered emergency grants to people, as well as help with white goods, furniture and carpets.

Steve Duncan, chief executive of the foundation, said: “The outpouring of support was truly incredible.”

The foundation also set up two ‘legacy’ initiatives, which are in place should flooding hit Calderdale again.

Flood Save is a match-funded savings scheme for businesses and homes not covered by the FloodRE scheme.

The foundation has invested £500,000 from the fund and in the event of a flood this money will be used to match savings made by members.

The Watermark scheme is a campaign to build a resilience fund. Shops and businesses sell a Watermark-branded product and a percentage of the profits then go into the fund, which could be accessed straight away in case of another flood.