Member Article

Persimmon Homes raise thousands for charity

Persimmon Homes has boosted the coffers of three charities chosen by staff at their West Scotland Office when cheques totalling £30,000 were handed over following a huge fundraising drive.

Nominated charities Yorkhill Children’s Charity, Prostate Cancer UK and the Scottish Youth Theatre were presented with the cheques last week.

Throughout 2013, staff at Persimmon organised a series of fundraisers, including cake sales, raffles and sponsored events ending with a glitzy black tie ball at The Grand Hotel in Glasgow last November.

Fiona Dunlop, fundraising manager at Prostate Cancer UK – Scotland, said “We are incredibly grateful to Persimmon Homes West Scotland for their extremely generous donation of £12,000.

“We will use the donation towards our community work in Scotland, offering men with prostate cancer the chance to get help in their local community to help improve their quality of life as they face their cancer diagnosis.”

Almost 400 staff and guests from the construction industry enjoyed the ball which was compered by Scottish comedian Andy Cameron. Guests enjoyed a medley of songs from the Scottish Youth Theatre and danced to hits from the live band, Amplifive, before being invited to bid for auction lots.

Ingrid Gahagan, sales and marketing director at Persimmon Homes West Scotland, said: “The charity ball was a huge success thanks to the hard work and tenacity shown by our staff. The team co-ordinated by Alison Paton, Secretary to our managing director, Doug Law, dedicated their own time to make sure that we raised as much money as we could for our very deserving charities.”

Kirsten Sinclair, Head of Fundraising at Yorkhill Children’s Charity which received a £14,000 donation, said: “On behalf of everyone involved with Yorkhill Children’s Charity, I would like to express our sincere thanks to the staff and customers of Persimmon Homes West of Scotland for this incredibly generous donation.

“Without the support of individuals and companies alike we would not be able to continue providing the extra services and medical equipment that make a real and lasting difference to the lives of sick children and their families who are treated and cared for at Yorkhill Hospital and its related facilities. The employees and customers of Persimmon Homes West of Scotland have been long-standing supporters of the charity, and we are forever grateful for their ongoing support.”

Persimmon has raised money for the Scottish Youth Theatre in previous years with £4,000 donated this time.

Marketing officer Kyriakos Vogiatzis said: “Throughout March 2014 Scottish Youth Theatre will be travelling to Special Educational Needs schools, Additional Support Needs units and accessible community groups across Scotland offering free specialist-led drama workshops.

“The workshop programme will be delivered by an inclusive team of theatre arts professionals, including a professional drama tutor from Scottish Youth Theatre and a movement specialist from Indepen-dance, with experience of working with young people of all ages and abilities. We are also very excited to have a disabled artist joining the team.”

Ingrid added: “We are so proud of what we have achieved for these great causes. I would like to thank all the participants and contributors for their generosity and the Grand Central Hotel for hosting such a wonderful event.” Persimmon Homes has developments across West Scotland. For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amandeep Garcha .