A housebuilder that has given monthly donations to community groups for the past five years has announced the scheme is to solely help the over-70s for the foreseeable future.
Persimmon Homes Nottingham launched Community Champions with a view to helping community groups, charities and good causes across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire with two donations of up to £1,000 made locally every month.
However, as the nation starts to feel the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak, the housebuilder feels that, at the moment, elderly communities are in the most need of support.
The change of direction will come into effect from April, with the donations for that month going to groups that work with and support the over-70s. This will continue until further notice. The March donations will be open to all community groups, in line with previous months.
The Community Champions initiative is run by all of Persimmon Homes’ 31 operating businesses together with its head office, with £64,000 donated nationally every month. Since it was launched in 2015, the scheme has donated more than £3m to around 3,500 groups.
Neil Follows, managing director at Persimmon Homes Nottingham, said: “We have always believed in supporting the communities where we build, especially grassroot activities, and we hope people will understand our desire to now specifically support the over-70s at this time.”
To apply to Community Champions, visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity