OneFamily has announced a total donation of £10,000 to support four local organisations this Christmas that help the most vulnerable people in Swindon.
The projects that will be benefitting are the Swindon Christmas Toy Appeal, SMASH, The Big Breakfast Plus and Swindon Food Collective.
The financial services company has awarded each organisation £2,500 and will also be offering hands-on help through employee volunteering and the sharing of skills, networks and experience.
Jim Islam, CEO of OneFamily said, “Money has been tight for so many people over the last couple of years, and the pinch is often felt even harder in the winter months.
“Amazing charities like these help local families and individuals who, for many, experience additional challenges around Christmas, and we are privileged to help them provide support through this extra busy time.
“Since opening our Swindon office, we’ve been keen to build longstanding partnerships with local charities and get stuck in to supporting the community. For us, it’s not just about handing money over; we’ll be investing time, practical support and advice that we hope will have a real impact on the lives of local individuals and families.”
Swindon Christmas Toy Appeal
The Christmas Toy Appeal, organised by the Gateway Church Swindon, is now in it’s eighth year of providing Christmas presents to parents and guardians to give to their children.
In addition to the financial donation, OneFamily colleagues spent the 5th and 6th December in ‘Santa’s workshop’ organising all the toy donations to be sent out to Swindon families.
Dawn Prosser, Toy Appeal Co-Ordinator at Gateway Church Swindon, said “We are very grateful for OneFamily’s generous financial donation and volunteering their time to help sort and categorise all the toys we receive. The money will ensure we have a variety of presents for all age groups, especially teenagers as we don’t receive as many gift donations for older children.”
SMASH
SMASH is a mentoring charity for children to help them realise their potential and achieve. The charity provides safe spaces and practical support for young people in Swindon.
OneFamily’s donation will be enabling a project that supports children who are struggling to attend school due to mental health and wellbeing issues.
Andy Malcolm, CEO of SMASH, said “School attendance is at a record low across the country, and this puts so much pressure on not only the young person but their wider family as well. OneFamily’s generous donation and volunteering will enable our mentors to continue delivering support to find a solution that means the young person can return to education.”
Big Breakfast Plus
Big Breakfast Plus offers hospitality and breakfast to those who are homeless and at risk of homelessness, as well as those who are continuing to be impacted by the cost of living and food poverty. In addition, the charity has recently started providing breakfast takeaway packs for families trapped in hotel accommodation without cooking facilities.
The organisation provides hot food and comfort seven days a week and relies heavily on volunteers to cook and serve the breakfasts.
Swindon Food Collective
Swindon Food Collective helps people living in Swindon and the surrounding area who are experiencing financial hardship and finding it difficult to provide food for themselves, their family or dependants. Donations are collected from individuals, shops, churches and businesses. These are taken to SFC’s warehouse, where they are sorted and packed into emergency food parcels, ready to be delivered to their 11 distribution centres, which are open five days a week.
In the last 12 months the Swindon Food Collective has distributed over 122 tonnes of stock, which includes food, toiletries and household cleaning products, to 10,891 people. This means around 98,000 meals have been provided.
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Notes to Editors
About OneFamily
OneFamily is a member-owned financial services company that offers lifetime ISAs, lifetime mortgages, junior ISAs, child trust funds, bonds, over 50s life cover along with life insurance and critical illness cover under the Beagle Street brand.
We have over 45 years’ experience of being a trusted provider of financial solutions, with nearly 2 million customers and over £5.5 billion in funds under management at the end of 2022.
We are the UK’s biggest child trust fund provider, holding over 25% of the market.
Supporting our members and their communities
At OneFamily, we’re owned by our members for our members – and doing right by them is at the heart of our business.
We don’t have shareholders to pay dividends to, so we reinvest our profits to provide quality products and services for the benefit of our members.
We think that financial products should be accessible to everyone regardless of how much money they have to invest. That’s why our products have low investment levels and minimum contributions, giving more people the opportunity to save regardless of their circumstances.
Inspiring Better Futures
Our Inspiring Better Futures vision underpins our commitment to doing the right thing at every level for our members and customers, colleagues and communities.
The Inspiring Better Futures vision is built on 3 pillars – Members and customers, colleagues and communities.
Our focus is on long-term sustainability, so we can continue to be relevant and impactful to our members and communities.
Access to education and training
The costs of further education and training can be a barrier to many young people and their families. This is why we offer OneFamily customers the opportunity to apply for a Young Person’s Education Grant of up to £250 – for someone aged 15-19 – to help meet these costs, when they would otherwise struggle without financial assistance.
The grant can be used towards study materials, specialist uniform, travel costs or a laptop/tablet.
Applications are open throughout the year, and grants are awarded following a random computerised draw.
We awarded over £52K to 210 young people through our Young Person’s Education Grants in 2022, helping them to invest in a better future.
Charity Partnerships
Supporting our communities has been a key focus of ours for many years. We’ve established partnerships with local and national charities that champion access to education and improving life chances for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For more information on how we support our members and communities see:
Education Grants
Charity Partnerships