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Lockdown projects give community facilities a new lease of life

The weather might be saying spring but for a number of community groups in the region, the coats are going on. 

Coats of paint that is, thanks to donations made by Karbon’s painting and decorating contractors and suppliers through our Unlocking Social Value programme. 

Dunningham Decorators supplied paint, equipment and two days of labour to redecorate Merton Lodge community centre in BenwellMitie Painting and Fabrics donated materials and paint to Whitley Bay Young People's Centre to bring a storage room at the facility into use for youth activity,and Novus Property Solutions supplied paint equipment and two days of labour to Hebburn & Sunderland Sea Cadets, to redecorate the external metal work on the building which was in desperate need of work. They also donated surplus paint to enable the Cadets to do works inside. 

During a time when the finances of community groups and organisations are tight or being redirected elsewhere to provide help during the pandemic, these donations have been incredibly well received. 

Samantha Corbett from Forest Hall Young People’s Club told us: Without your support this would not have happened at this time as we simply could not afford to continue. The project is almost finished and once we can resume our normal community activities the new room will be a hive of activity generating more income for our charityenabling us to sustain and continue in our facility. 

George Bone from Hebburn & Sunderland Sea Cadets also shared his thanks. “After receiving the extremely kind offer to help with some of the maintenance at our fantastic but ageing building, we knew that the success of our Sea Cadet Unit would prevail and provide many more hours of fun and security for our children.” 

Low Fell Community Pre School also benefitted from the programme after winning a paint competition ran in conjunction with Johnstones Trade Paint. The pre-school received £400 of materials to redecorate its internal rooms alongside support and advice from Johnstone’s Trade staff on the project. The decorating started with the entrance and bathrooms being given a lick of paint and will continue into Spring with the main hall. 

Laura Havery from the pre-school said: “Finding  out  we  won  the  paint  competition  was  so  fantastic  for  our  brand  new  pre-school. Wwanted  to  make  our rooms as  bright and welcoming  as we could for the  new  families  that  joined  us  and  with  little  budget  we  thought  we  would have  to  wait  a  long  time  before  doing  this.  It  means  so  much  to  us  that  Karbon  Homes  and Johnstone’s  ran  this  competition  to  support  local  communities at  this  very  tricky  time.”    

 

Through Karbon’s Unlocking Social Value programmecontractors and suppliers contribute social value commitments which help our Customer and Community Engagement Teams to deliver a range of activities. 

To find out more about our Unlocking Social Value programme, contact mycommunity@karbonhomes.co.uk 

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