Barratt Homes East Scotland Community Fund – The NEN

Barratt East Scotland raises over £14,000 for charity

Barratt Developments, which includes both Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, is celebrating a record-breaking Christmas with its final Community Fund donations after its charitable efforts topped more than £46,000 in donations across Scotland, including £14,000 in the east of Scotland.

Each year, the five-star housebuilder works with a wide range of local causes and has continued to step up its efforts through the Barratt and David Wilson Community Fund, which donates £1,000 to a deserving local cause in each of its three Scottish divisions every month.

The charities are nominated and voted by employees of Barratt Homes with the focus of fund continuing to be on organisations that improve the quality of life for those living in the area and important issues which worsened due to the pandemic.

Barratt East Scotland’s final Community Fund donations of 2020 have gone to Kids Love Clothes, Social Bite, Edinburgh’s Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) and Crisis Edinburgh to support with a number of projects throughout December and the festive season.

In April of this year, the housebuilder donated over 2,300 items of PPE equipment to hospitals around Scotland to help frontline NHS workers and staff in the fight against COVID-19. The company also donated 44 defibrillators from its divisional head offices and constructions sites to St Andrew’s First Aid, who assist the NHS and ambulance service on the frontline should they be called upon.

Reflecting on the achievement, Douglas McLeod, Barratt Developments’ Regional Managing Director for Scotland, said: “As the country’s leading housebuilder, we are committed to creating a positive legacy and making a genuine contribution towards the communities in which we build our homes.

“We are extremely proud of this year’s achievement, as it’s become even more apparent how incredibly important it is to support those around us during these unexpected and difficult times.”

“We looking forward to working with many more organisations and raising even more funds as we go into 2021 and beyond. We would like to thank everyone who suggested the charities, supported our fundraising activity and wish everyone a happy and healthy Christmas and prosperous New Year.”

Amy Ford, Fundraiser at ECHC said: “We are so grateful to Barratt Homes for their generous support at the end of what has been an incredibly tough year.

“Their generosity ensures that we can continue to support the children, young people and families who face the anxiety of a hospital visit or stay. Whether it’s filling hospital playrooms with toys, enhancing clinical spaces to become more welcoming or bringing the fun and creativity of the arts into the hospital, Barratt Homes support means that children have a positive hospital experience and can continue to be a child first and a patient second.”

The full list of 2020’s beneficiaries for Barratt East Scotland is:

· Edinburgh School Uniform Bank

· PlayMidlothian

· Cramond Playgroup

· Social Bite (pictured, top)

· Edinburgh’s Women’s Aid

· Ashlee’s Neuroblastoma Appeal

· Love Gorgie Farm

· Marie Curie Hospice

· LifeCare

· Tiphereth

· Kids Love Clothes

· Social Bite

· Edinburgh’s Children’s Hospital Charity (pictured above)

· Crisis Edinburgh

Housebuilder helps capital charities with £2,000 donation

Love Gorgie Farm and the Marie Curie Hospice have received £1,000 each as part of the Barratt Homes East Scotland Community Fund.

The former will be using its £1,000 boost from the housebuilder on improving storage in the foodbank, with a new fridge freezer to contain fresh produce and food packages. For Marie Curie Hospice, the money will help towards essential running costs, as they aim to raise over £250,000 a week to continue delivering their Scottish services

On the site of the former Gorgie City Farm, Love Gorgie Farm, supports vulnerable children, young people and adults, using innovative ways to engage them in learning. On the day of lockdown, March 22nd 2020, Love Gorgie Farm opened its doors as a foodbank giving out hundreds of parcels to vulnerable people and families in Edinburgh, East Lothian and West Lothian every month.

Marie Curie Hospice aims to give those with critical illnesses the best quality of life, and support them to keep them independence and dignity for as long as possible. This includes treating or managing pain with medicines, therapies and other specialist approaches while also giving emotional support to the patient and their family.

Alison Condie, managing director at Barratt East Scotland, said: “Love Gorgie Farm and Marie Curie Hospice do a fantastic job at supporting the communities around them with food packages and care.

“We’re thrilled to be able to help them and we hope that our donation will allow them continue to provide their crucial services.”

Dolina Gorman, charity fundraiser at Love Gorgie Farm, added: “We would like to thank Barratt Homes for their generous donation; this will enable us to continue to fight food poverty and offer this essential service to the most vulnerable in the community.

“To date we have delivered over 1000 food parcels and 450 facemasks, the demand for this service remains high and the foodbank will now be a permanent fixture on the farm. The donation will certainly make a huge impact on how Love Gorgie farm provides for those in the community.”

Fiona Bushby, Community Fundraiser at the Marie Curie Hospice said: “Thank you to Barratt East Scotland for this exceptionally generous funding.

“Coronavirus has had a devastating effect on Marie Curie, with the crisis also seriously affecting our ability to fundraise and the public donations on which we rely. Currently, our work is needed more than ever as we continue to care for dying people and support their loved ones.“

Now in its second year, the Barratt Homes Community Fund has pledged to donate £1,000 each month to a charity or organisation in the East of Scotland. Charities are nominated by and voted for by employees of Barratt Homes and the focus for the fund continues to be on organisations that improve the quality of life for those living in the area

For more information on Barratt Homes, visit the website.

Barratt Homes donates over £6,800 to local initiatives

Barratt Homes, one of the UK’s largest house builders has donated and fundraised over £6,800 to help local initiatives across the east of Scotland.

From January to June, the Edinburgh School Uniform Bank, PlayMidlothian, Cramond Playgroup, Social Bite, Edinburgh’s Women’s Aid and Ashlee’s Neuroblastoma Appeal, all received £1,000 as part of Barratt Homes East Scotland’s Community Fund.

The donations have helped provide food, school uniforms and essential packs for families, redecorate refuge accommodation and new sustainable toys for children, as well as general running costs and challenges arising from these unprecedented times.

Barratt Homes’ Community Fund pledges £1,000 every month to a charity or organisation, which supports local people across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. Charities are nominated and voted for by employees of Barratt Homes and the focus for the fund continues to be on organisations that improve the quality of life for those living in the area.

Barratt Homes East also carried out a number of activities to fundraise a further £890 for chosen charities. These involved a walking, running and cycling for an hour challenge which raised £500 for the Edinburgh North West Foodbank, a virtual walk from Lands’ End to John O’ Groats raising £320 for Chas and a baking challenge raising £70 for Barratt East’s annual charity Love Gorgie Farm.

Speaking on the donation, Josh Littlejohn, CEO of Social Bite said: “We were very grateful to have the support of Barratt Homes during the challenging time when many families were stuck in isolation.

“Since March 20, we have been producing and distributing free food to homeless people and other vulnerable groups. We had given away an incredible 150,000 emergency food packs and Barratt’s donation allowed us to scale up our production and delivering 6,500 food packs every single day since April.”

Alison Condie, managing director for Barratt Scotland East added: “All of the charities we’ve donated to provide an invaluable service, and have carried out vital work in this difficult time for children, families and women across Scotland. We are very pleased we have been able to help them with these donations and look forward to supporting them where we can in the future.

“At Barratt East Scotland we are committed to supporting the communities we serve, and through the Community Fund and our fundraising activities, we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the services that make a positive impact on so many lives.”

For more information on Barratt Homes, visit the website.

Barratt supports three local charities

Young people and mental health are the focus of Barratt East Scotland’s latest charitable donation round. Barratt has made donations of £1,000 each to 3 Scotland-based charities:

· Penumbra – a mental health charity supporting adults and young people

· Richmond’s Hope – supporting bereaved young people aged 4-18yrs

· Teenage Cancer Trust – providing support and treatment for young people aged 13-24

As part of its Community Fund, the homebuilder is committed to supporting a selection of local charities, chosen by Barratt staff, within Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians with new donations every month throughout 2019.

Alison Condie, Managing Director, Barratt Homes East Scotland, said: “The work that Penumbra, Richmond’s Hope and Teenage Cancer Trust do is crucial to the communities in which we operate.

“We are delighted that our donations will make such a difference to people – especially children and young adults – in our local area. Every charity we support though our Community Fund initiative is chosen by our staff and the causes they support are close to our hearts.”

Nigel Henderson, chief executive of Penumbra, said: “As a mental health charity providing support to around 1800 adults and young people across Scotland each week, we are delighted to benefit from the Barratt Homes East Community Fund.

“We have a range of projects across Scotland, supporting people who experience mental ill health to live fulfilling lives in their communities. This money will support our Recovery Fund which enables people to try out new activities and opportunities.”

Barratt Homes is committed supporting the communities in which it operates.

For more information on Barratt Homes and the communities it operates in visit www.barratthomes.co.uk. To find out more about the incredible work being done at Penumbra, visit www.penumbra.org.uk

To learn more about the work Richmond’s Hope do to support bereaved children, visit www.richmondshope.org.uk, and to learn about Teenage Cancer Trust, visit www.teenagecancertrust.org.