Nene Park Trust has received £5,000 to fund the conversion of a vehicle store into a fully equipped workshop, from which its volunteer team will be able to create a wide range of products for use across the Park, which is located to the West of Peterborough. These products will include bird boxes and feeders, fencing, planters and willow work sculptures.
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.
Nene Park Trust offers flexible volunteering opportunities to a wide range of groups and individuals including people with disabilities, the elderly and unemployed. The grant will enable the Trust’s volunteers to gain confidence and build up their skills, sharing knowledge and experience with each other.
Adrian Oates, Head of Fundraising at Nene Park Trust, said: “We’re delighted to have received this grant from the Santander Foundation, and that we will be able to offer our volunteers these facilities. We know that they will make excellent use of the workshop and we’re pleased we can play a part in building up their transferrable skills. We look forward to having the workshop up and running and seeing our volunteers’ wonderful creations.”
Mike Sweeney is a volunteer at Nene Park Trust who will benefit from the grant: “I’m very excited about the project and can’t wait to get stuck into using the workshop. As an ex-woodwork teacher, I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to contribute to Nene Park using my skills, and the new workshop will be an excellent way for me to share my knowledge with the next generation.”
Stella Gatehouse, Branch Director at Santander’s Peterborough Financial Centre, 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 Nene Park Trust, and hope the donation makes a real difference to local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander Email: leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk
Tel: 020 7756 4543
Claire Grant, Athene Communications, on behalf of Nene Park Trust
Email: claire.grant@athene-communications.co.uk Tel: 01733 207344
About Nene Park Trust
Nene Park Trust is the independent charity that manages over 1,700 acres of land to the west of Peterborough at no cost to the taxpayer, including the 500 acre Ferry Meadows Country Park. The Trust was established in 1988 with the aim of improving the quality of life for Peterborough residents and visitors through providing high quality and accessible open spaces.
Nene Park stretches six miles along the valley of the river Nene to the west of Peterborough. The estate includes Thorpe Meadows, with its large rowing course and diverse collection of contemporary sculpture, two 18-hole golf courses at Thorpe Wood and Orton Meadows, and Ferry Meadows Country Park, which contains a wide range of visitor facilities including a watersports centre, areas for camping and caravanning, a visitor centre, gift shop and three children’s play areas. The estate is linked to open countryside by a riverside footpath running west for six miles from the city centre with extensive footpaths, cycleways and horse routes linking to the adjacent villages.
Further information on Nene Park Trust and their current events programme is available at: www.neneparktrust.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.