Mayday Trust has received £5,000 from Santander to fund a back to work programme for people facing barriers to entering the employment market in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. This includes those going through tough times such as experiencing homelessness, leaving care or coming out of prison.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
Mayday Trust works with people so they can take control of their lives and transition out of their situations with dignity and respect. Set up in 1979, the organisation provides accommodation and highly personalised support through its Personal Transitions Service, a programme which focuses on building an individual’s strengths, aspirations, relationships and sense of purpose. Through this service, Mayday offers bespoke opportunities for those who may have experienced long-term unemployment and homelessness.
The grant will allow eight individuals to build skills, increase their confidence and improve their employability prospects. The aim of the programme is to give individuals confidence and enable them to take the lead on planning in preparation for future employment. Some of the previous participants have continued their work experience in Europe, gone on to pursue trade courses and applied for continued paid employment.
Pat McArdle, CEO at Mayday, said: “As a forward-thinking organisation, we are always looking for better ways for people to transition out of their situations toward a future they have chosen for themselves. The grant will support Mayday to work with people so that they can build on their unique talents and aspirations and feel part of their communities.”
Fleur Gallagher, Branch Manager at Santander’s Oxford branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations every year to good causes throughout the UK. We are committed to playing a key part in the community and we are delighted to be supporting Mayday Trust, and hope the donation makes a real difference to local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contacts
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander Email: leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk
Tel: 020 7756 4543
Lynn Mumford at Mayday Trust Email: lynn.mumford@maydaytrust.org.uk
About Mayday Trust
Mayday Trust works across Northamptonshire and in Oxford and Westminster. Mayday is a forward-thinking charity that tries out new approaches to tackling homelessness. Mayday works with partners across the UK in developing a unique programme called a Personal Transitions Service which provides coaching to people going through tough times.
For more information please visit: www.maydaytrust.org.uk
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 806 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.