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BAA Communities Trust

Registered charity number: 1058617

Who we are and what we do

BAA has its own grant-making charity, The BAA Communities Trust. Funded by an annual donation from the company, the independently run Trust makes grants to support projects in the communities closest to BAA’s airports – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow, Southampton and Stansted.

We place a priority on funding projects linked to education, the environment and economic regeneration – areas for which local people tell us they most value Trust support. Through our grants we aim:

To create learning opportunities for young people and so raise their aspirations
To break down barriers to employment through skills development
To help protect the environment
To support airport staff active in the community.

The Trust has donated a total of nearly £7 million since it first started in 1996. During 2010, we made some 500 grants and donations to charity, worth more than £600,000. So far this year, we have made donations totalling more than £300,000.

Trustees:

Helen Murley – Trust Chair
Alan Coates – Ealing and Hillingdon Education Business Partnership
Brendan Gold – Unite
Matthew Gorman – BAA Heathrow
Clare Harbord – BAA Heathrow
Punam Kharbanda – Business in the Community
David McMillan – Director General Eurocontrol
Alastair McDermid – Planning and Development Consultant
Steve Ronald – British Airways

Airport Community Funds

The Trust has set up new community funds for each of the airports, with locally based panels helping Trustees with grant-making decisions. The panels each meet at least four times a year to consider applications.

How to contact us

You can download a short guide for grant-seekers and an application form, or contact Trust Director Caroline Nicholls for further information and guidance:

Email: caroline_nicholls@baa.com
Address: The Compass Centre, Nelson Road, Hounslow, Middlesex TW6 2QQ

Aberdeen Community Fund

Contact: sarah_campbell@baa.com

Who can receive grants

The Trust funds a wide range of community organisations and charitable groups and charities. These include:

National/international charities, delivering projects in or involving people from the communities local to BAA’s airports
Locally-based charitable organisations
Schools and local authorities delivering community projects
Grassroots community groups and organisations
Local grant makers
National/international charities in support of staff fundraising activity

Support for staff

The Trust supports BAA staff with their charity activity and community volunteering - employees can apply for grants of up to £250 to match their own fundraising achievements or donations towards local community projects they are working with. For more information e-mail caroline_nicholls@baa.com.

Aberdeen Community Fund

Community panel:

Chair: Sarah Campbell, Media and Communications Manager, Aberdeen Airport
Maggie Mackenzie, Aberdeen Airport
Dan Peck, Aberdeen Airport
Alex Gauld, Scottish Business in the Community
Brian Adam, MSP
Phyllis Stuart, British Airways

Examples of recent grants awarded

VSA Easter Anguston Farm

A major grant of £50,000 is supporting this farm, which provides employment and vital services to people with disabilities and mental health problems plus their families to completely refurbish their Education Room and to build a brand new machinery workshop – both major undertakings which will make the farm more accessible to other groups, at the same time as ensuring it becomes a safer working environment for the regular users.

Tetracycle

The fund is helping this community initiative company widen a recycling scheme for tetrapaks, to save them from landfill sites.

Aberdeen Arts Centre

The fund is supporting a performing arts and production skills programme for disadvantaged youngsters aged from 12-18.

Homestart Kincardine

A grant to help an active and valued support group for young families.

National

V-inspired National Awards

These awards, run for the first time by v the national volunteer youth service, celebrated the achievements of more than 700 young volunteers, aged from 16-25. The trust awarded grants of £1,000 for each of the winners in eight categories to donate to a charity or community project of their choice.

Do-it.org

Trust funds are helping the development of a national volunteering website, run by the charity Youthnet.

Worldwide Volunteering for Young People – Boost! bursary awards

The Boost! Awards are a new youth bursary scheme designed to help and encourage young people to volunteer in their local community. The awards will help young people aged between 16 and 19 who live within 25 miles of Heathrow, Southampton or Stansted airports to undertake voluntary projects by contributing to the costs of food, accommodation and transport.