Member Article

Barratt Developments North East Helps to Change Lives

Barratt Developments North East, which includes both Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes brands, has partnered with North East based charity, Changing Lives, to help provide a special Christmas for those who need it most. In just six weeks, the housebuilder has raised over £9,000 for the charity, along with over 150 boxes of charitable donations, worth thousands of pounds, from its employees, local residents, contractors and suppliers. The housebuilder also took time to personally drop off all of the generous gifts at Changing Lives’ Head Office, so that they can be put to good use this Christmas.

As part of its ongoing commitment to support local charities and communities across the North East, the housebuilder was keen to support Changing Lives this Christmas and help those less fortunate in the local area. Within the initiative, donation drop-off stations were set up at every Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes development within the North East region over the festive period. As well as this, the housebuilder also requested for it’s business partners and suppliers to make a donation to the charity, instead of a Christmas gift this year. Employees, local residents, contractors and suppliers were encouraged to donate gifts such as warm clothes, sleepwear, gift sets, toys and food items, and monetary donations were also given, raising over an impressive £9,000.

Volunteers from Barratt Developments North East packed up seven vehicles this week, each one full to the brim with thousands of pounds worth of charitable donations for individuals benefiting from the Changing Lives charity. In addition to the Christmas gifts and monetary donations, the housebuilder also donated 100 Moving Packs containing items such as cups, tea towels, tea, coffee and cleaning items, which will provide much-needed home necessities for those who need it most.

Changing Lives is a national charity registered to provide specialist support to 17,000 people in the North East each year, helping them to make meaningful and lasting improvements to their lives. This includes offering support to those who are experiencing homelessness, people who are living with addictions, suffering from domestic abuse, and those struggling with unemployment. The Christmas period is often a lonely and isolating time for many people that the charity supports and a donation from Changing Lives is likely to be the only gift they receive this Christmas.

Carl Sobolewski, Managing Director at Barratt Developments North East, commented: “We were so moved by the wonderful work that the volunteers at Changing Lives do to help vulnerable people across the region, that we were delighted to be able to support this campaign. It is brilliant to see everyone coming together to support an amazing cause and I’d like to personally thank our employees, customers and contractors for their support on this fantastic initiative. Each and every item will be greatly appreciated, and we hope that our support will help to spread festive cheer this Christmas.”

Alice Fisher, Fundraising and Events Officer at Changing Lives, commented: “We’re so grateful for each and every donation that we have received. We are amazed at how much Barratt Developments has managed to raise in such a short space of time, as well as the hundreds of boxes of gifts that they collected, and we’d like to thank everyone who got involved this festive period. Every single donation will truly help to make Christmas special for the people that we support.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .