Tag: charity donation

Barratt Developments Scotland donates £10k to SocialBite

Five Scottish charities to receive a share of £50k fund to help people facing homelessness, financial crisis or social exclusion

Local housebuilder Barratt Developments Scotland, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, has donated £10,000 to help homeless people in Edinburgh.

Social Bite is one of five charities to benefit from a share of Barratt’s £50k fund to help people facing homelessness, financial crisis or social exclusion. 

The UK charity is an innovative social enterprise, which is committed to ending homelessness through food, employment and housing. In Edinburgh it has coffee shops on Rose Street and Shandwick Place, along with the Social Bite Village – a supported community providing accommodation and assistance for up to 20 people affected by homelessness.

Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, says Barratt’s donation will go towards supporting those who are affected by homelessness, experiencing high financial risk, or in crisis and in need of support.

Josh Littlejohn said: “On behalf of Social Bite and the people we support, I’d like to thank Barratt Developments Scotland. We know that ending homelessness requires everyone to play their part, and we are incredibly grateful for this generous donation.

“This support will enable us to continue to develop innovative programmes of food provision, supported employment and housing; to bring about systemic change, and empower people who have been homeless to transform their own lives.”

Churches Action for the Homeless (CATH) in Perth, The Highland Homeless Trust in Inverness, Aberdeen Cyrenians in Aberdeen and Community Veterans Support in Glasgow are among the other charities to benefit from a share of Barratt Development’s bumper £50,000 fund.

Alison Condie, managing director of Barratt Developments East Scotland, said: “As a homebuilder, we work in communities across the country to increase the availability of quality homes.

“Addressing homelessness is a cause that’s very close to our hearts but, sadly, the pandemic has exacerbated many of the social and financial issues and put many more people at risk.

“We are pleased to be able to provide some financial support to these organisations at a time when they need it most, and hope that our donations will help those who are vulnerable or facing hardship across the country.”

For more information on Barratt Developments Scotland, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, visit https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/

Pure Cremation helps save lives with £1,500 donation to St Andew’s First Aid

The UK’s leading provider of direct cremation has donated £1,500 to St Andrew’s First Aid, Scotland’s only dedicated first aid charity, to help them achieve its ambition of creating a nation of lifesavers. 

Pure Cremation presented the donation to the charity, whose work and fundraising efforts have suffered over the past two years due to the impact of the pandemic.

St Andrew’s First Aid aims to deliver training to some 13,000 people every year.

Since the start of Covid19 the charity’s community fundraising events – which are its main source of income – have had to be cancelled, with funds drying up as a result.

The charity was also forced to cancel its community training scheme.

Instead, most of St Andrew’s First Aid’s volunteers lent their time and skills elsewhere in their respective communities, such as delivering medicines and supplies to vulnerable residents and helping out at NHS vaccination hubs.

Ian Kirk is the Regional Manager for Pure Cremation Scotland and Northern Ireland and a volunteer with St Andrew’s First Aid.

Ian joined the charity at the age of nine and worked his way up over many years to become a fully-fledged first aid trainer. He is still a volunteer today, juggling his charitable activities with his career and family life.

Ian said: “St Andrew’s First Aid is a fantastic cause which over many years has equipped generations of families across Scotland with invaluable skills which in turn will have helped saved countless lives.

“Like other charities, its income has been severely impacted by the pandemic, as has its community activities. 

“At a time when donations to charity are reducing but costs still need to be met, we are pleased to award this sum to help St Andrew’s First Aid continue in its vital work.”

Stuart Callison, Chief Executive of the charity, said the donation from Pure Cremation came as a welcome surprise at a time when much of the funding during the pandemic was allocated to Covid-related causes such as NHS charities, or essential supplies for those most in need.

It also came at a time when St Andrew’s First Aid was looking to resurrect its community training activities.

He added that although St Andrew’s First Aid had been unable to continue its work in schools and other community groups over the past two years, it had devised a vital emergency first aid and mental health training programme for secondary school pupils called Ready for Life.

Over the coming months, the programme will see almost 1,000 pupils learning vital, life-saving first aid skills and being able to spot signs of mental ill health in friends and family and provide the necessary support.

Mr Callison said: “We are extremely grateful to Pure Cremation for the donation which will assist our programme of community based first aid training.

“St Andrew’s First Aid, like many other charities, has been hit hard by the impact and restrictions brought about by the pandemic.

“Our volunteers have found many other ways to continue supporting their communities and making a difference to those around them. Donations and support from businesses, organisations and individuals are more important than ever to us as we seek to continue our efforts to establish Scotland as a nation of lifesavers.”

Established in 2015 Pure Cremation was the first company to provide a dedicated service in direct cremation – an alternative to the traditional funeral where there is no church, no service, no officiant, mourners, cars or flowers.

The donation to St Andrew’s First Aid is one of six being made to charities across the UK, totalling £13,000.

Persimmon Homes awards £1000 to children’s cancer charity

A specialist support service that helps and supports children living with a cancer diagnosis has been selected to receive £1,000.

Persimmon Homes North Scotland awarded the funding to Young Lives vs Cancer as part of the developers Community Champions scheme.

Every day 12 children hear the devastating news that they have cancer.  Young Lives vs Cancer step in to help support and guide each child and their family. For those travelling, often miles, for treatment in Glasgow, the charity welcomes them to make use of Marion’s House, a safe and cosy environment near to the hospital.

Marion’s House provides a place away from the hospital wards with 11 bedrooms where families can stay for free and spend time with their child during treatment doing the everyday things that make them feel that a fraction of normality is possible during what is an extremely challenging time.

Carol Jones, at Young Lives vs Cancer, said: “Maintaining a sense of normality for families going through cancer diagnosis and treatment for their child is so important.  The basics of making a cup of tea, doing the laundry and being able to make a home-cooked meal are such small things but make a huge difference.

“This funding will enable a family to stay at Marion’s House for 26 nights where they can stay close to their child in hospital, or be together with their child, whenever treatment allows.

“On behalf of all the children and families that we help a big thank you to Persimmon Homes.”

James MacKay, managing director at Persimmon Homes North Scotland, said: “When we heard about Young Lives vs Cancer, we wanted to do what we could to help their cause.

“The expert support provided by the care team at Marion’s House makes a huge difference and we feel privileged to contribute to their efforts.”

For those who wish to know more about Community Champions and how they can enter, visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity

Buy Rope donates a day’s profits to Polar Bear charity

On the 27th February, Buy Rope donated a full day of profits (£107) to an East Lothian based charity called Winton Foundation for the Welfare of Bears to celebrate International Polar Bear Day.

The Winton Foundation for the Welfare of Bears was launched in 2010.

The Foundation is working to raise awareness and collect funds to support projects around the world to help 8 species of bears, such as polar bears . They are part of the global network working to help end the abuse and exploitation of bears throughout the world and to provide care for them following rescue.

Lesley Winton BEM, Founder and Director, said: “The polar bear organisations we have supported in the past have been Polar Bears International and Cochrane Bear Habitat. 

“We are supporting the work of Polar Bears International, based in the United States and dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the Polar Bear and its habitat through research, stewardship, and education. Polar Bear International provides scientific resources and information on Polar Bears and their habitat to institutions and the general public worldwide.”

International Polar Bear Day is an event launched by Polar Bear International with the aim of raising awareness of the danger climate change is posing on these arctic animals.

The date of the event coincides with the time of the year when polar bear mums and cubs are snug in their dens – their safety being another concern for activists. This celebration encourages people and companies to find ways of reducing their carbon footprint, therefore taking a stand against global warming.

Buy Rope is dedicated to helping those in need. They decided to support a different organisation each month by organising a fundraising event.

Read more about this charitable initiative here:

https://www.buyrope.co.uk/international-polar-bear-day/

LifeCare Edinburgh receives support from Arnold Clark

LifeCare Edinburgh has received £1,000 from Arnold Clark’s Community Fund to help the charity deliver its essential care to hundreds of older people living across the North of the city. 

The renowned local charity offers registered care, outreach activities and help at home services for older people. Established in 1941, the organisation supports elderly clients suffering with dementia, mobility issues, those experiencing isolation and loneliness, food poverty, mental health problems and offers dedicated support for carers.  

LifeCare’s vital services have not stopped through the pandemic. Since March 2020, the charity has supported over 770 elderly individuals with vital positive support designed to protect and maintain the physical and mental health needs of some of the most isolated older members of the community. 

The committed team has worked tirelessly to safely deliver essential care, practical help and companionship activities to ensure older people received the support they needed to stay well.  The charity also launched several important new initiatives, such as their hugely successful meals on wheels service, specifically designed to help support the most isolated and vulnerable.  

Margaret Stewart, Care Service Manager at LifeCare said: “Throughout LifeCare, we have worked tirelessly to ensure no client in need went without our dedicated support and contact. 

“We have delivered over 7,500 hours of registered care through the crisis to date, over 10,000 hours of help within the home, made over 4,300 calls to carers most in need and served up over 10,000 hot nutritious meals to doorsteps. 

“We simply could not deliver this vital care without the generous support from our funders.  A huge thank you to Arnold Clark for this recent award which will help us to continue to care for those who need our help.”

Chief Executive and Group Managing Director Eddie Hawthorne said: “The Arnold Clark Community Fund is here to connect us with our local communities, and we’re delighted that we’ve been able to help LifeCare with this grant.

“The past year has been challenging for so many of us, which is why it’s important that organisations like LifeCare, who work so hard improve the lives of others, continue to get the support they need.

“We hope this grant will make a difference and help them continue to provide essential care to the elderly living in Edinburgh.”

For more information visit https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/

Edinburgh charities boosted by Amazon team donations

Edinburgh charities Streetwork and Edinburgh Food Project have welcomed donations totalling £10,000 from Amazon Development Centre Scotland.

Streetwork, a service provided by Simon Community Scotland, has been offering care and guidance to those who are experiencing homeless or at risk of homelessness in Edinburgh for 25 years.

The charity provides expert advice and compassionate support, working to connect people to the services they need. The mission of the charity is to enable a life off the streets, showing dignity and respect to everyone.

The charity works with City of Edinburgh Council, so staff have direct links to accommodation that is available immediately. The charity also offers a 24-hour freephone line that provides information for anyone who needs it. 

Edinburgh Food Project operates eight foodbanks across the northwest, central and east of Edinburgh. The charity also offers a range of support to people including housing and benefits advice, a money advice service and a mental health and wellbeing project. 

Edinburgh Food Project’s mission is to provide emergency support to people in crisis whilst also addressing the underlying causes of food poverty. 

Commenting on the donation, Graeme Smith, Managing Director at Amazon Development Centre Scotland, said: “We are pleased to support Streetwork and Edinburgh Food Project with these donations.

“We understand how difficult the last year has been for people at risk of hunger and homelessness and these charities have gone above and beyond to support the Edinburgh community.”

Lorraine McGrath, Chief Executive, with Simon Community Scotland added: “We want to say a big thank you to the Amazon team for this donation. It means a lot to us to have this support at this time.

“COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the community and the demand for our services have rocketed. This donation will give our staff and volunteers a boost so we can continue to help those experiencing the most extreme impacts of homelessness including rough sleeping in Edinburgh.”

Angus Robertson, MSP for Edinburgh Central, said: “I welcome Amazon’s donation to Streetwork and Edinburgh Food Project, two important charities making a positive impact in the city.”

Amazon Development Centre Scotland has been based in Edinburgh since 2004 and is responsible for devising and growing innovations that bring new levels of choice and convenience to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. 

It houses teams of leading engineers, scientists, designers and product managers who work on everything from interactive user interface design to large-scale distributed systems and machine learning. 

Community donations are one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19. 

Throughout the pandemic Amazon has provided disadvantaged students with free online STEM resources and supported virtual classrooms with no-cost resources from AWS and Amazon Future Engineer.

The company has also teamed up with charity partner Magic Breakfast to deliver more than four million healthy breakfasts to children at risk of hunger in disadvantaged areas around the UK.

For more information on how Amazon is supporting the UK during COVID-19, click here.

A wheelie grand gesture!

A Glasgow charity has received a donation from a UK regional housebuilder to help support children to engage in cycling activities. Free Wheel North received a £1,000 donation from Persimmon Homes West Scotland, as part of the housebuilder’s Building Futures campaign.

The charity encourages children of all abilities to participate in cycling at an affordable cost, improving mental and physical wellbeing as well as learning key life skills.

Not only does Free Wheel North cater for disabled children with specialist bikes, but their facility also allows families who financially cannot commit to owning their own bike or do not have the space to store one, the opportunity to still participate in regular cycling.

Carol Thompson, who applied for the funding for Free Wheel North, said: “Cycling is a key life skill as it means independence for the children as well as it being a skill that they will carry with them for their entire life.

“Donations such as this are so important with COVID-19 restrictions directly affecting our visitor numbers.  In 2019 our disability cycle track welcomed more than 41,000 but this year that number has dropped to just 7,224 causing a dramatic drop in our funding.

“With the kind donation from Persimmon Homes, we hope that this year we will be able to create even more opportunities for children to enjoy again. The funding will help us to maintain and service our fleet of speciality bikes, making them ready for when more children can return to the track.”

Persimmon Homes is giving away £1million through their Building Futures programme. The campaign aims to support community groups working with under-18s across three categories – education & arts, health, and sport.

A total of 128 grants of £1,000 will be awarded across Persimmon’s 32 regional businesses to improve local facilities and the delivery of vital community projects.

Three initiatives will go on to win £100,000 each through a national online public vote. The winners will be named at a gala dinner for finalists in October.

In each sector – education & arts, health, and sport – as well as the £100,000 first prize, there will be a £50,000 second prize and a £20,000 third prize, while a further 87 shortlisted projects will each receive £5,000.

Chris Logan, managing director of Persimmon Homes West Scotland, said: “Our Building Futures initiative allows us to support community groups that focus directly on young people across the areas that we are building.

“We are delighted to be able to donate £1,000 to Free Wheel North. The inclusive activities they provide for young people within the community is a much-needed service and allows opportunities for those who may not be able to experience them safely elsewhere.

“The Building Futures campaign is still open for applications and we are encouraging charities and services who work specifically with under 18’s to apply now via our website.”

For more information about the new developments available across West Scotland or to find out more about the Building Futures initiative, visit: 

www.persimmonhomes.com

Barratt East Scotland raises £5,000 for LifeCare Edinburgh

Barratt Developments East Scotland, which includes both Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, has donated £5,000 to local elderly care charity, LifeCare.

Following its success in Barratt Developments’ company-wide virtual 500k challenge for the Prince’s Trust, the Barratt East Scotland team, which walked a combined total of 1,721km, was awarded £5,000 to donate to a charity of its choice.

It selected LifeCare, a renowned local charity which offers registered care, outreach activities and help at home services for older people living across the North of the city.

Established in 1941, the organisation supports hundreds of elderly clients a year, including those suffering with dementia, mobility issues, those experiencing isolation and loneliness, food poverty and mental health problems, and offers dedicated support for carers. 

The charity also runs the successful community café, CafeLife on Cheyne Street.

The donation from Barratt East Scotland will help LifeCare’s ongoing efforts to support those who have shielded during the duration of the pandemic to return to life beyond their own four walls and back to the communities they hold dear.

Alison Condie, managing director at Barratt East Scotland, said: “LifeCare carry out incredible work supporting those vulnerable and in need of care.

“We’re pleased that our employees nominated the charity and we hope that our donation will help them to continue to provide these crucial and important services.”

Claire Montgomery, LifeCare’s Trusts Fundraising and Communications Manager added: “A huge thanks to everyone at Barratt East Scotland for this terrific award – it’s truly appreciated.  As a registered charity, LifeCare is reliant on the generosity of our funders to enable us to deliver quality care that our older population deserve. 

“We have supported over 770 local older people through the pandemic, many of whom had no other available support.  We have offered safely delivered care in the home, remote support by phone and doorstep visit, shopping and prescription deliveries, and we have set up our brand new meals on wheels service which has already served up over 9,000 hot meals to doorsteps. 

“Our continued care has supported isolation issues and enabled people to remain living independently in their own homes.  We look forward to fully opening all services again as soon as we are safely able.”

As part of its community benefits programme, 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.

Now in its third year, the Community Fund pledges 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.

The team is also committed to providing assistance to groups that contribute to the communities it serves in many other ways. A recent benefactor was Rosslyn Bowling Club, which Barratt East Scotland supported with the donation of a new notice board.

Jim Hiddleston, Club President of Rosslyn Bowling Club said: “We’ve been working towards a new noticeboard for quite some time as our location is quite hidden, so we are delighted with our new signage kindly donated by our new neighbours, David Wilson Homes.”

Interested charities can enquire about donation opportunities at charity.eastscotland@barratthomes.co.uk

Visit the Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes websites for more information.

Children’s charity gets cash boost from local housebuilder

A children’s charity aimed at helping disabled and disadvantaged children has been given a £1,000 cash boost by a Bathgate-based housebuilder as part of its year-long initiative to support local communities.

Radio Forth Cash for Kids, which supports children that have special needs, are disabled, have life limiting illnesses or have been abused or neglected, received £1,000 from Persimmon Homes East Scotland.

Cash for Kids is a grant giving charity that receives requests from individuals and children’s organisations within the broadcast area of Radio Forth.  All money raised is distributed in Edinburgh the Lothians, Fife and east central Scotland. 

Nationally Cash for Kids raised £19.2 million last year enabling support for 396,639 children.  

The funding provides elements of specialist care and a variety of day-to-day necessities such as food, toiletries and data cards to help keep children connected for schooling.

Victoria Hendry at Radio Forth, said: “We are delighted that Persimmon Homes East Scotland has chosen to support us as we rely entirely on donations. 

“The pandemic has devasted families across Scotland and we currently have 45 applications outstanding to help children with specialised wheelchairs, bereavement support, speech therapy so we are approaching businesses for help across our broadcast area.

“This donation will help us to continue to offer support and develop new services for young people.  We are so grateful.”

The donation comes as part of Persimmon Homes’ Community Champions project which donates up to £1,000 to two local groups and charities in each of its 30 regions.

Neil Parry, managing director at Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said the community initiative is a way of supporting people across every city, town and village where the company works.

He said: “We want our Community Champions project to help as many people as possible and we felt the work that Radio Forth Cash for Kids is perfectly placed to achieve this, particularly under the current circumstances. 

“We are building on a number of new sites in and around Edinburgh and are very pleased to support this extremely worthy cause that does so much to help children in the community.”

Persimmon Homes East Scotland is currently developing a range of new two, three and four-bedroom homes at The Willows at The Wisp, Kings Cove and Lang Loan in Edinburgh along with Burgh Gate in Musselburgh.

For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com

Amazon supports Edinburgh children’s charities

Two Edinburgh children’s charities have received £4,000 in donations from Amazon’s Development Centre in the city. 

Amazon Development Centre Scotland donated £2,000 to Canongate Youth and £2,000 to The Yard. 

The donations were made as part of the ‘Amazon in the Community’ programme, whereby the company supports the communities around its operating locations across the UK. 

Canongate Youth supports children across Edinburgh and the Lothians, offering youth clubs, support services, advice and counselling. Amazon Development Centre Scotland has supported the charity since 2014. 

The Yard is an organisation that creates safe play areas for disabled children and their siblings, giving them the chance to experience creative, adventurous indoor and outdoor play in a well-supported environment. 

The charity plans to use the money to support more disabled children and families with online videos for early years, play ideas and relaxation, and work towards bringing more people back into the playground in line with current guidance. 

Graeme Smith, Managing Director at Amazon Development Centre Scotland, said: “We are pleased to offer these donations to such brilliant charities. We hope the support will help both charities continue their important work with the children of our community.” 

Amazon’s Tich Kent with Anna Robinson (left) partnership manager and Danielle Campbell play team leader. NOTE picture was pre-COVID

Jenny MacDonald, Director of Development at The Yard, added: “We are very grateful for this donation from the Amazon team and for their support of our mission to ensure every child has the right to safe and fun play. We would like to say a big thank you to Amazon for its kind support.” 

Amazon’s Development Centre in Scotland is responsible for innovations used around the world by the company, including machine learning to power Amazon’s smart features like personalised recommendations and intelligent advertising. 

Community donations is one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19. 

Amazon is providing disadvantaged students with online STEM courses as well as teaming up with charity partner Magic Breakfast and delivering three quarters of a million healthy breakfasts to families around the UK. 

For more information on how Amazon is supporting the UK during COVID-19, click here.