Land Securities’ customers donate over 30,000 gifts to families in need
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Land Securities has announced visitors to its retail and leisure destinations have donated more than 30,000 gifts for disadvantaged children across the country.
Following the success of the Bluewater Giving Tree, which was launched in conjunction with Heart FM in 2014, Land Securities has implemented a programme of charitable giving initiatives bespoke to each location in its portfolio. Highlights include:
· At Bluewater, a 20-foot tall Giving Tree was located on the upper mall outside Marks and Spencer in November for six weeks. 15,000 presents were donated this year, a significant increase on the 11,000 received in 2015. The presents will be delivered in time for Christmas to 36 children’s charities
· White Rose in Leeds also had a Giving Tree and its visitors donated 5,050 presents in four weeks
· St David’s in Cardiff launched its Toy Appeal on November 10 in conjunction with Capital FM. In its second year, more than 7,500 presents have been given to date to St David’s Donation Station this Christmas, beating the 5,200 presents donated in 2015. The gifts will be given to disadvantaged children via 20 charities across South Wales
· At Lewisham Shopping Centre, the management team worked with the Metropolitan Police and Barnardo’s and over 500 presents have been received so far
Commenting on the success of the programme, Jat Sahota, Land Securities’ head of commercial, said: “We would like to thank everyone that has donated a present at one of our centres this Christmas. The generosity of our visitors has been overwhelming and is going to make an incredible difference to tens of thousands of disadvantaged children across the country on Christmas Day.
“Helping local charities to support families in need is a very important initiative that reflects the key role each of our centres plays in their respective areas. Crucially, rather than rolling out the same programme in every location, each centre has responded to local needs to implement a programme of direct benefit to its community.
“We have an obligation to ensure we deliver tangible, long-lasting benefits in partnership with the community and, for everyone involved, from the teams on-site to the charities, this is one of the most satisfying initiatives Land Securities helps facilitate.”
Tracy Lovatt from Footprints, a charity specialising in the care of children and young people with disabilities and one of the beneficiaries of the Bluewater Giving Tree, added:
“On behalf of everyone at Footprints, we would like to say a big thank you for the fantastic donation of toys for the children with disabilities at Footprints. The team was overwhelmed with the number of gifts donated and we would like to put out a public thank you to you and everyone who has contributed.
“You really have helped to make the children’s Christmases extra special and we cannot thank you enough.”
Margaret Jervis, operational director at Valleys Kids in South Wales, also commented: “I would like to say a very big thank you to every St David’s shopper who has donated to the Toy Appeal – you have made a very big difference local families and children this Christmas.
“It’s difficult to imagine that there are children living in Wales who might not receive a gift at this time of year, but thanks to the Toy Appeal, many children will now wake up on Christmas morning to discover that there really is a Santa! Thank you so much to all who have donated so far and Merry Christmas.”
In addition to the significant support received from visitors to the centres, a number of local companies that provide products and services to Land Securities have also donated their time and resources, from providing off-site storage space for collected presents to lending drivers and vans to help the charities deliver the gifts.
