South West’s leading housebuilders - Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes - donate £50,000 to charities across the region

The South West’s largest housebuilders - Barratt Homes and subsidiary David Wilson Homes, have donated £50,000 to charities across the region, including Wiltshire food, health and community projects, to mark the start of 2022.

Barratt and  David Wilson, which are building hundreds of new homes across the South West, are giving £10,000 each to five charities that support the communities they are building in and are important to their staff.

The housebuilders are creating new communities at Birds Marsh View in Chippenham, Hunters Wood in Melksham, Orchards Rise and Wichel Fields at Wichelstowe, near Swindon. One of the chosen charities, KidsOut, provides exciting days out to disadvantaged children in Wiltshire.

Staff working for the David Wilson Homes South West and Barratt Homes teams, based in Bradley Stoke, South Gloucestershire, chose Sarcoma UK as one of the beneficiaries in memory of a colleague who lost their life to soft tissue cancer last year.

As well as KidsOut and SarcomaUK, the other charities benefiting from the donations will be Dementia UK, FoodCycle and Devon-based charity the Gilead Foundations. Each will receive £10,000 to help them continue their vital work across Wiltshire and the South West region.

Russell Glimstead, South West regional director for Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes said: “These charities do such vital work across the region, whether it’s helping disadvantaged children or supporting people with different mental and physical needs, these charities provide a life-line for so many who are in need.

"We believe passionately in supporting people and communities across the South West where we are building much-needed new homes so we’re pleased to be able to make this contribution to mark the start of a new year and help these important charities continue with their amazing work into 2022.”

Richard Davidson, Chief Executive of Sarcoma UK said: “We cannot thank Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes enough for their incredible donation of £10,000 in memory of their friend and colleague, Tim Blythe.

"Sarcoma UK receives no government funding and relies solely on generous voluntary donations, and our tireless fundraisers. This donation will go directly into funding vital research, driving awareness of sarcoma, providing information and support to anyone affected by sarcoma, and campaigning for better treatments and standards of care in England’s South West, and across the UK.”

Pictured: Sarcoma UK team members at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, visiting Dr Paul Huang’s Molecular & Systems Oncology team, which is funded by the charity