Leading housebuilders triple recent donations to local children's charities

Leading housebuilders Barratt and David Wilson Homes have tripled donations made earlier in the year to 5 local children's charities. The additional £15,000 donation brings the total donations made to £20,000.

The charities set to receive an additional £3,000 each include Home-Start Exeter, East & Mid Devon which supports parents and families from all backgrounds or situations, such as those struggling with mental health issues or with children with disabilities. Home-Start trains volunteers experienced in parenting and matches them to families, to offer emotional and practical support to help families get back on track. They also offer a range of on-line parent and family support groups. The charity's Cornwall service, Home-Start Kernow, will be receiving an equivalent donation.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes are also making a further £3,000 donation to Action for Children's Tiverton centre. The centre provides support for children and families including health visitor services, speech therapy, access to midwives and they also run classes for parents, play groups and support sessions. Many of the families they support have found it difficult to engage with online services during the covid pandemic, often because of a lack of technology in the home. This follows an earlier donation in the spring, which the Tiverton centre used to buy tablets and devices for families so that they could access courses and support sessions online as well as helping with home schooling.

Another charity to receive the donation is the Plymouth Drake Foundation for its Plymouth Children in Poverty campaign, which has brought together a network of organisations working to eradicate poverty in Plymouth. One of their projects funds teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in the National Citizen Service programme, equipping them with work and life skills and building their confidence and self-esteem. They will use the latest investment as part of their Right to Read scheme to buy around 700 reading books for the young children they support.

Finally, Barratt and David Wilson Homes are donating £3,000 to Care for Kids North Devon. This charity provides financial assistance to families of children who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, who are often treated in specialist hospitals outside the area. This can cause loss of income and grants given are to help with travel and subsistence and accommodation costs. Care for Kids North Devon has provided financial support to over 120 local families, and the housebuilders' donation will help them continue to support families.

The additional support has come from Barratt Developments' national team, who selected the Devon and Cornwall children's charities after seeing the impact of the local division's first donation.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes are building hundreds of much-needed new homes on a range of new developments across Devon, including Braid Park, Tiverton, Raleigh Holt, Barnstaple and Victoria Heights, Exeter. Committed to supporting the communities they are working in Barratt David Wilson Homes' Exeter division donates £1,000 every month to local causes across Devon and Cornwall. This is in addition to a £24,000 contribution in September last year to Devon charities which support homeless people, young men at risk of suicide and people in hospice care.  

Jo Darke from Home-Start Exeter said: "We are very grateful for this further donation and support from Barratt and David Wilson Homes. This donation means we can continue to support vulnerable local families and children, many of whom are more in need than ever of our help and services."

Commenting on the donation to Action for Children's Tiverton centre, Richard Holmes, Service lead Mid Devon Children's Centres, added: "Action for Children are delighted to be donated this sum of money from Barratt David Wilson Homes. We will use the donation to support our work with children and families in Tiverton and the surrounding area. It will help us provide additional resources and support to help families, particularly our 0-2 year-olds, who have not had access to play and social opportunities, which have been sorely missed during this pandemic."

Maurice West, Chair of The Plymouth Drake Foundation who run the Plymouth Children in Poverty, said: "We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from the team at Barratt David Wilson Homes and their continued support for our work to overcome child poverty. All of our initiatives are ongoing projects and regular donations from our supporters are essential to enable us to sustain our work year on year. We are working to raise the self-esteem, belief and aspirations of under-privileged children, helping to level the playing field to give them equal opportunities alongside their peers to achieve a better life. This donation will provide approximately 700 reading books which will be gifted to young children, and, for many, it will be the first book of their own to keep."

Kerry Bidewell, Campaign Coordinator for Plymouth Children in Poverty, said: "A huge thank you to the team at Barratt David Wilson Homes, one donation is always greatly appreciated but a second substantial donation is such an endorsement of the work we are doing.  I cannot wait to share the various impacts this vital donation will make...they will be far reaching!"

Jacky Massos, Charity Manager and Trustee for Care for Kids North Devon founder said: "We are absolutely delighted to receive £3,000 extra funding from Barratt David Wilson Homes. As a small charity that is entirely self-funded, we can't survive without donations like these. The money will be put to very good use supporting families in North Devon and Torridge who have a child diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or condition."

Nicki Reid, sales director for Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter added: "Now more than ever, as we attempt to get things back on track following the pandemic, the work that these charities and their volunteers carry out is so vital for families across Devon and Cornwall. We are really proud to be able to help these charities who support children and families living on and around our new communities.