Tag: charity donations

Aldi donates over 6,600 meals to Edinburgh and Lothians charities over the festive period

Local charities across Edinburgh and the Lothians have helped Aldi donate around 6,644 meals to people in need this Christmas Eve. 

The supermarket paired up its stores with local charities, community groups and food banks to make the most of unsold fresh and chilled food after stores closed on 24th December.  

Around 210 tonnes of food were donated throughout the UK, with more than 500,000 meals donated and over 750 UK causes benefitting from the initiative in total.  

The donation is Aldi’s largest to date and helped 10 charitable causes across Edinburgh and the Lothians at a time when more people are experiencing financial hardship and food insecurity due to Covid-19. 

This year, for the first time, the initiative will also extend to New Year’s Eve, when Aldi expects to donate a further 200,000 meals to charitable causes across the country. 

Aldi has also worked with partner Neighbourly to prioritise donations to charities and community groups focused on feeding children over the school Christmas holidays. 

The festive food donations are part of Aldi’s successful partnership with Neighbourly, a community giving platform that links businesses to charitable organisations. Thanks to this, all of Aldi’s 900 UK stores now donate surplus food to good causes seven days a week, all year round. 

Luke Peech, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “We’re proud to support good causes across Edinburgh and the Lothians this festive period, helping them to provide fresh and filling meals over the Christmas period.  

“The feedback has been overwhelming and we’re really pleased to have extended the initiative, so we can do what we can for those in need within the community in what was an incredibly tough year for so many.” 

Steve Butterworth, from Neighbourly, added: “Sadly, this festive season has been the busiest on record for the nation’s charities and food banks. I’m sure Aldi’s donation has been a lifeline for many.” 

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

76% of Scots intend to donate to a local charity this Christmas

·      85% believe that supporting a local charity is more important than in previous years

·      Community charities top the list of popular causes, while health and animal and wildlife initiatives are also front of mind for residents

76% of Scottish residents intend to donate to a charity close to home this Christmas because of the current climate, a new study has found. 

Data released from Ecclesiastical Insurance’s 12 days of giving campaign shows 10,361 people in the country have so far nominated a local cause to receive a £1,000 donation. 

And an overwhelming number 85% believe it’s more important than ever to support the work of local charities, as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. 

12 days of giving from specialist insurer Ecclesiastical will see 120 different charities receive an early Christmas gift of a £1,000 donation. 

Members of the public are being asked to nominate a charity close to their hearts to receive a festive financial boost with nearly 140,000 people suggesting 3,927 good causes already, in the last two weeks alone. 

247 Scotland based charities have been nominated so far and are in with a chance to win £1,000. 

Community charities are the most popular causes as voted by residents so far. Health organisations and animal and wildlife initiatives are also high priorities. 

Ten lucky charity winners will be announced each weekday from 7 to 22 December. 

It’s quick and easy to nominate a charity online.

Nominations are open until to 21 December and you can vote for your favourite charity at www.movementforgood.com/12days 

Winners will be drawn at random – and while it’s not a popularity contest, the more times a charity is nominated the more chance it has of being selected. Ecclesiastical is encouraging everyone to use their social media channels to ask people to vote for their favourite cause to give them the best possible chance of winning. 

Mark Hews, Group CEO of Ecclesiastical, said: “It’s incredibly humbling to see that Scottish residents are more likely than ever before to make a donation to a local cause this Christmas, despite the difficult year that most of us have faced personally.

“As a commercial company with a charitable purpose, giving back is at the heart of our business. Our annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign will help charities change lives for the better and we know that for many charities, £1,000 can make a real difference. We’re encouraging everyone to nominate a cause close to their hearts this Christmas to be in for a chance to win a festive financial boost.”

Ecclesiastical recently launched its latest Impact Report to celebrate some of the many good causes it has helped. 

Letters: BHF launches free postal donation service for shops

Dear Editor,

I would like to let your readers know about a new service we have launched at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which will make it even easier to donate decluttered items and support our charity to help save lives right here in Scotland.

Many people will have spent their time at home having a much-needed clear out and have been kindly holding onto their preloved items ready to donate to us.

Our post to donate service is a quick, free and simple initiative where you can donate smaller items via post. As our 750 UK shops and stores begin to reopen throughout June and July, this service is the perfect solution if your local BHF Scotland shop is not yet open, or you’re simply not ready to head to the high street

From electronic items, clothes and vinyl records to video games, shoes and collectible objects, we hope to receive good quality items which will be sold either online via our eBay store or at a BHF shop.

You can post your donations for free by downloading a postage label online and dropping it off at your local Collect+ store. To download your label and find your nearest Collect+ store, visit www.bhf.org.uk/shop

Our charity shops rely on the support of the public, which is why we never take for granted anything that’s donated to us. Every pound raised in our shops here helps us to support the 720,000 people in Scotland living with heart and circulatory diseases, many of whom are at increased risk from Covid-19.

Yours faithfully

James Jopling

Head of British Heart Foundation Scotland

Starbucks stores in Edinburgh donate total of £2000 to local charities

  • Starbucks in Waverley and Livingston have donated £1,000 each to local causes
  • Steps to Hope in Edinburgh and the West Lothian Foodbank were chosen by store teams

This summer, Starbucks stores in Edinburgh and Livingston have chosen local charities to receive a donation of £1,000 each, as part of Starbucks Summer of Giving campaign. Continue reading Starbucks stores in Edinburgh donate total of £2000 to local charities