Tag: Persimmon Homes East Scotland

Success for cancer charity in £1 million youth giveaway

A Livingston charity set up by the mother of a young man that lost his battle with cancer at the age of 15 has been gifted £1,000.

Persimmon Homes East Scotland made the donation to the Team Jak Foundation through its Building Futures initiative designed to support under 18s across the region.

Allison Barr’s son Jak Trueman fought a rare form of cancer but lost his battle with the illness in February 2015.  Jak was determined to leave a legacy that would help and support other families who receive the same devastating news that he and his family dealt with.

Allison Barr said: “I am overwhelmed and delighted to accept a whopping £1,000 from Persimmon Homes to help young people, their families and friends dealing with cancer. 

“I applied to Persimmon Homes for the funds to help cover the cost of sessions that invite children to relax and enjoy a healthy meal or snack in a clean environment – something that many take for granted but make a huge difference to the young people we help.”

The Building Futures scheme aims to support community groups working with under-18s across three categories – education & arts, health and sport.

Laura Still, sales and marketing director at Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said: “Young people are at the heart of all our futures, and we are fortunate to be able to provide support and help create positive outcomes through our Building Futures campaign.

“We will make donations from £1,000 to £100,000 to grassroots sports groups, charities dealing with physical and mental health issues, as well as community arts and education projects.

“Persimmon already donates £768,000 each year to good causes through its Community Champions funding programme and through Building Futures, we are dedicating help exclusively to the younger members of our society.”

Building Futures is delivered through the Persimmon Charitable Foundation in partnership with Team GB, the British Olympic Association, and the company enlisted the help of Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Dani Rowe to launch the scheme.

Laura added: “This initiative is a superb way of supporting young people across our communities and I would encourage anyone who is eligible to apply for funding. These sums of money can be life-changing and could make a real difference to the recipients.”

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 grand final in November.

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.

The initiative is now closed to new applications.

To find out more about Building Futures visit: www.persimmonhomes.com/charity/building-futures

Persimmon to support ELREC sports days

A regional equality council covering Edinburgh and the Lothians has been given a £1,000 boost by one of the country’s leading housebuilders.

Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC), based on Forth Street, is a charity that aims to support local communities and eliminate discrimination in all its forms through a range of projects.

ELREC, set up in 1971, applied to Persimmon Homes East Scotland to help to fund weekly sports sessions for disadvantaged children aged five-16 years of age.  The free sessions would be available for the youngsters in parks across Edinburgh.

The charity is among the first to receive funds as part of the housebuilder’s Building Futures campaign for 2021, which runs until August and will donate more than £1m to good causes this year.

Parveen Ishaq, of Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council, said: “We are really excited to receive this support from Persimmon Homes.

“Our team work hard to promote equality and diversity across our region through a wide range of projects and in particular we are targeting young people in our communities living in poverty.

“The money will help us provide free outdoor sports sessions for children in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians.  The sessions will not only get young people moving they will also help to support young people’s mental health and social interaction, which are so important after the lockdown restrictions.”

Building Futures 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 November.

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.

Laura Still, sales director at Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to help Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council and the truly inclusive work it is doing with young people in Edinburgh.

“The pandemic has had a huge impact on mental health across the board, not least amongst young people. It is important that charities like this are supported in the good work they are doing.

“Building Futures is all about helping young people and youth groups in our area. We’re accepting entries until mid-August so we’d urge more people to apply by visiting www.persimmonhomes.com/charity”

Persimmon is currently selling stunning new-build homes at sites across Edinburgh and the Lothians at developments including Lang Loan, The Willows, Kings Cove, Burgh Gate and Kings Meadow.​

Founded in 1972, Persimmon Homes is one of the UK’s leading housebuilders. With headquarters in York, the Group operates from 31 regional offices throughout the UK, trading under the brand names of Persimmon Homes, Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships, building quality homes across England, Wales and Scotland. The company directly employs more than 5,000 people and supports around 86,000 jobs in the construction sector.

For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com

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