Four charitable projects from across the UK have been recognised at the ScottishPower Foundation Awards which took place in Aberystwyth last week, Thursday 15 October 2015, winning a further £7,500 to enhance the highly valuable services which they currently provides in their local communities.
The four winning projects were: RSPB Scotland (Community Impact / Engagement Award), Erskine (Charity Champion Award), The Aloud Charity – Only Boys Aloud (Innovation Award) and Theatr Clwyd (Education Partnership Award).
Four projects were also commended in each category, these projects were: Children’s University Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Music in Hospitals Scotland and Wigtown Book Festival.
The ScottishPower Foundation Awards, which is now in its second year, aim to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the 28 outstanding charities and non-profit organisations that have received funding from the ScottishPower Foundation over the past year.
This year, 21 projects applied for the Awards which took place at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
Ann Loughrey, Trustee and Executive Officer of the ScottishPower Foundation, said: We work with truly inspirational projects and the charitable work they do is admirable. We are delighted to have been able to play such an important role in this process and I look forward to seeing the benefit the additional funding awarded will bring to local communities across the UK.”
The ScottishPower Foundation was established in 2013, to support charitable projects and reinforce the energy company’s commitment to charitable work throughout Britain. The Foundation provides funds to support charitable initiatives that promote the advancement of education, environmental protection, citizenship and community development, arts, culture and science, as well as the prevention of poverty or disadvantage. Its aim is to make a significant and lasting contribution to society and enhance the quality of life in local communities.
For further information, media interviews or images please contact Jen Ward or Laura Blyth at Stripe Communications on 0131 561 8628 or email spfoundation@stripecommunications.com
Notes to editors:
About the ScottishPower Foundation
The ScottishPower Foundation is a registered Scottish charity (SC043862) and a company limited by guarantee (SC445116). The Foundation’s aim is to make a significant and lasting contribution to society and enhance the quality of life in local communities. It provides funding to registered charities and non-profit organisations for the following purposes: the advancement of education; the advancement of environmental protection; the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science; the prevention or relief of poverty and the relief of those in need by reason of disability or other disadvantage; the advancement of citizenship and community development.
About the projects
RSPB Scotland (Community Impact / Engagement Award)
The Abernethy Forest Restoration Project. Abernethy Forest is rich in wildlife including red squirrels, capercaillie, crested tits, and Scottish crossbills, along with many rare mosses, fungi and plants, and has the largest single remnant of Caledonian pinewood left in the UK. It’s also home to the famous Loch Garten ospreys – when ospreys returned to breed in the UK in the 1950s it was the ancient Caledonian pinewood forest at Abernethy where they chose to make their home.
Funding from the Scottish Power Foundation has helped RSPB Scotland to create a new tree nursery at Abernethy, Scotland’s largest Caledonian pinewood remnant. Thanks to their support, teams of children, young people and adult volunteers have been able to grow and plant thousands of new trees, receiving training in the key skills required to expand this ancient forest for the future. Winning this award would enable RSPB Scotland to expand the capacity of the project to restore forests on the higher mountain slopes.
Erskine (Charity Champion Award)
Erskine has been caring for veterans for almost 100 years and is the leading care organisation for ex-Service men and women in Scotland.
June Cameron, a volunteer at the Erskine Glasgow Home, from Glasgow’s West End has been nominated for the ScottishPower Foundation Charity Champion Award. Despite having a busy home life and young grandchildren to look after, June volunteers at the home at least one day per week, helping to serve breakfast and lunch, supporting recreation staff to host fun activities such as quizzes and concerts for residents, and assisting with a whole host of housekeeping activities.
June is also helping to bring the Erskine Glasgow Home Recreation Project to fruition. The project aims to provide a new recreation area suitable to host events for all residents, relatives, friends, staff, volunteers and visitors to the home. This will greatly enhance the daily recreation service Erskine can provide to veterans living at the home. June has carried out her own fundraising activities, raising thousands of pounds along the way. She has organised raffles, produced a recipe book for sale and completed the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb in her efforts to raise funds. As a result of her hard work, and the support of generous donors such as the ScottishPower Foundation, the new recreation area will be constructed, equipped, furnished and ready for residents to enjoy by October 2015.
The Aloud Charity – Only Boys Aloud (Innovation Award)
Since its formation five years ago Only Boys Aloud has offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to hundreds of boys across South Wales to perform on platforms large and small across the UK, as well as numerous TV appearances and recordings.
Since April, thanks to the support of the ScottishPower Foundation and other funders, OBA has been running a new pilot project in North Wales, extending those opportunities to boys aged 13-19 from across the region. Rehearsals for new choirs in Holyhead, Caernarfon, Rhyl and Wrexham started in April and the pilot project will culminate with performances at key events in October and November 2015. At its heart the scheme aims to make a difference to the young men of Wales and help raise aspiration levels, self-esteem and confidence.
Theatr Clwyd (Education Partnership Award)
Justice in a Day is a transformative educational workshop for young people brought to life by the Clwyd Theatr Cymru. It aims to deter young people from committing a crime and teaches them about the devastating effect crime can have on them, their family, their friends and their community. The interactive sessions explore the causes and consequences of becoming involved in the criminal justice system through drama and take the high school students to the Crown Court.
The project, which began in Mold five years ago, has now worked with over 3,500 young people from across North Wales this year and with funding from the ScottishPower Foundation expanded its performances to England (at Liverpool’s Community College).