B P Collins has donated another £10,000 to local causes in Buckinghamshire through its Heart of Bucks’ stewardship fund, which is now in its eighth year. The firm has donated £90,000 to Buckinghamshire charities to date.
All staff at B P Collins were asked to choose from five shortlisted charities and organisations that best reflect the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) values, which are – building stronger communities, providing better futures and creating safer lives. The chosen organisations are:
- Wycombe Women’s Aid, which provides safe, temporary and emergency accommodation as well as practical and emotional support within the refuge and through outreach in the local community to women, children and young people experiencing the effects of domestic violence. It receives £3,000.
- Wycombe Homeless Connection, which helps and defends the rights of people who are homeless or facing homelessness in south Buckinghamshire. It receives £2,000.
- Pace, which is a specialist charity committed to ensuring that every child with a neurodisability can reach their fullest potential in life and take their place in the world, receives £1,750.
- Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS), which aims to abolish disability by building a world which is free of the barriers which disable people. It is led by disabled people who support each other by working on projects which deliver change for disabled people, also receives £1,250.
- Lindengate, which helps people struggling with their mental health, memory loss and dementia, receives £1,000.
Gina Connell, B P Collins’ chief marketing officer, says:
“This year’s applications really emphasise the breadth of amazing work being done to support people across Buckinghamshire. We are hugely proud to play a part in helping them.”
One of the donor recipients, Wycombe Women’s Aid, which receives £3,000, comments on the impact of B P Collins’ funding:
“We are absolutely delighted to have received a grant from the B P Collins Fund and extend our thanks to staff at the firm for their support and votes. This grant will be of huge benefit to Wycombe Women’s Aid as we will be using it to support a number of areas of service delivery, from offsetting some of the increased utility costs within the refuge, to enabling workers to undertake a number of training sessions to enhance their work with the women, children and young people. Thank you!”
Wycombe Homeless Connection, a charity which receives £2,000, adds:
‘When women and men flee domestic abuse and violence, they are often forced to leave their homes, with nowhere else to turn. Women are at their most vulnerable as they leave the home of an abuser and male victims face a shortage of support and often approach homelessness charities like us and ask for help with their homelessness rather than mentioning the violence they have suffered because of the stigma involved.
Because of the support of B P Collins, Wycombe Homeless Connection is going to be able to offer support, hope and help to women and men facing this most devastating situation; we will help them avoid sleeping on the street by placing them in emergency accommodation while we work with them on their options. Not only can we be ready to house people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness because of domestic violence but we can help extremely vulnerable including people seeking asylum or escaping modern slavery, refugees, prison leavers, young adults, people with disabilities and ill mental and physical health, women and others. This support will save lives and give people hope for the future.’
Interim Chief Executive Officer, Caroline Bennett from Pace, which receives £1750 says
“We would like to thank B P Collins and Heart of Bucks for the generous donation and supporting our Upper Limb Therapy programme across our school and Child & Family here at Pace. You are helping children to develop their hand skills, meaning children can be more independent in accessing their education, self-care and daily living as well as play and leisure. You are helping create hands for the future”.
Another charity, Bucks Disability Services (BuDS), which receives £1,250 adds
“The funding will enable us to sustain our attitudes and hate crime project, which supports disabled people who are victims of discriminatory attitudes and hate and will also enable us to begin our plans for expansion and outreach.“
Henry Allmand, Chief Executive of Heart of Bucks says:
“At Heart of Bucks, we are delighted to be working with B P Collins for another year, to support their corporate giving activity. Local communities benefit significantly from their generous annual contribution to grassroots projects in the county. For almost a decade, our partnership has given the charity sector the resources it needs to do critical work, helping local people and places.“
