A local charity has increased the number of families they support in Aberdeen after receiving a generous donation from a major energy company.
Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd has made a recent donation of £4,000 to Home-Start Aberdeen to enable them to make a difference to nearly 30% more families across the city since 2013.
Home-Start is a voluntary organisation that offers friendly, confidential and practical support to parents with young families across the UK.
With the funding from Nexen, it has allowed the charity to carry out a range of activities to help local families, including providing volunteers with specialist training courses to support family members dealing with complex and difficult situations, along with replacing their outdated office computers.
This donation has been raised from Nexen’s community investment fund and the money from recycling redundant IT equipment in the company’s Aberdeen and Uxbridge offices with half of the funds going to Home-Start in Hillingdon, Greater London.
This represents the third tranche of funding from Nexen; having gifted the charity in Aberdeen £15,000 over the past two years.
Steve Regulski, chairman of the Nexen UK donations committee, said: “We’re pleased to be donating to such a worthy cause that offers essential support to families within our community who need a little extra help. We’ve supported Home-Start since 2013 and we’re amazed at what they have achieved and the amount of families they’re now able to reach out to. Giving back to local communities is deeply rooted in Nexen’s company values and we are committed to working in partnership with local charities to support them in reaching their goals”.
Georgette Cobban, scheme manager at Home-Start Aberdeen, said: “Nexen’s support has made a huge difference to Home-Start Aberdeen. The relationship that has developed between us over the last few years has enabled them to see the difference the donations have made as they have watched our service grow to meet ever increasing demand. We are very proud of our volunteers and the quality of their training is vital to ensure the best possible support is being given to families. We continue to seek new volunteers, who can offer 2-3 hours per week to support a local family in their own home.”