Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and Westmorland wins major business charity award

Published by

Kirsty Muir

A unique partnership behind Gloucester Services on the M5 was awarded the Long-Term Partnership Award at the prestigious Business Charity Awards, hosted by Third Sector in a ceremony at the London Marriot Hotel.

The partnership between Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and the Westmorland Family was shortlisted alongside high profile national business and charity partnerships including Matalan and NSPCC, Innocent and Age UK and Nationwide and Shelter.

Mark Gale, CEO for Gloucestershire Gateway Trust said: “The success of Gloucester Services has realised a long-standing aspiration by local people to create positive social change and regeneration within their communities. We’re over the moon that this partnership award recognises that communities can create something of scale that has a lasting impact, and something that has really put Gloucester on the map.”

Amid its success, Gloucester Services has exceeded its charitable goals and created over 400 jobs, employed over 80 people specifically from ‘target’ local communities, and supported over 130 local producers within 30 miles. In the last 18 months over £700,000 has been reinvested into community projects and development activity in the target communities to support regeneration. Local residents help decide how future funding is spent through Gloucestershire Gateway Trust’s annual Community Survey and an additional £2.5 million will be committed to these communities over the next five years.

Sarah Dunning, Co-Chair for Westmorland said: “It's fantastic to have the hard work of everyone involved in the partnership recognised with this award. Embedding the charity directly with the aims and ambitions of the business has been of huge benefit to both. The partnership with Gloucestershire Gateway Trust is about investing in our community for future generations and we look forward to continuing to build on what has been achieved to date."

Gloucestershire Gateway Trust receive up to 3p in every £1 of non-fuel sales from Gloucester Services to invest in our local communities.

The Business Charity Awards were created by Third Sector to celebrate and share outstanding partnerships between charities and corporate partners.

Kirsty Muir