A bumper year for local charities
16 November 2011
A staggering £80,000 has been donated to charities and groups across the North-east in 2011 – all thanks to the Aberdeen Airport Community Panel.
The Community Panel is funded by the BAA Communities Trust (a wholly independent charity primarily funded by BAA Ltd). From the start of 2010, the Panel was given increased local control over their own donations.
The final meeting of 2011 has just been held, and it was calculated that the team have made donations of £30,000 to a variety of groups. On top of that, in March a major £50k donation to the VSA Easter Anguston Farm was approved by the Trust.
Some of the groups to benefit from donations over this year include the Wildlife in Newmachar Project, Aberdeen Safer Communities Trust, Banff Sailing Club, the Street Sport scheme, and the Dyce outreach bus scheme, among others.
The group have control over local donations, and support projects with specific educational, environmental or employment benefits.
Sarah Campbell is chair of the local panel. She said: "2011 has been a great year for our group, but more importantly for the communities we have supported. One of our strengths is that the group is made of people from both inside and outside the airport, and from a wide range of North-east backgrounds. This means we understand projects better when they are presented to us, and can target our funds accordingly."
Caroline Nicholls, Director of BAA Communities Trust, said: "The local panel plays an invaluable role in bringing the work of the Trust closer to the communities it aims to support with its grant-making – it helps us to make sure that funds are spent well where they are needed most, helping to make a real difference to local lives."
Karen Barlow is Director of Fundraising and Communications at VSA. She said "We were absolutely delighted to receive a grant of £50k from the BAA Community Trust which has enabled us to begin work on 2 large projects at Easter Anguston Farm, a training centre for adults with additional support needs. With this grant we are building a new machinery workshop for our trainees and completely renovating our education room which is used by hundreds of local children throughout the year to learn more about their environment, wildlife and where their food comes from.
“Without the support of the Community Trust we would not have been able to carry out this work so quickly and consequently improving the facility for both our service users and the local community.”
