Countryside Properties plc

06/23/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2021 02:28

Countryside Communities Fund supports Barking & Dagenham vaccination effort

Countryside has been proud to support the Covid-19 vaccination effort in Barking & Dagenham through a £5,000 donation from the Countryside Communities Fund. These funds have supported the medics, volunteers and council staff who have worked tirelessly at The Broadway Theatre vaccination centre since January.

The £5,000 has primarily been used to increase the visibility of the centre and the volunteers working there; improving the accessibility for residents for whom English may not be their first language. This has been achieved through high-visibility jackets that include volunteer names and their role, name badges detailing the languages each volunteer speaks, lanyards, pop-ups, a promotional video, signage and much more. Tens of thousands of local residents have now received their jabs at the centre, and so we are delighted to have played a part in supporting over 300 local volunteers who have been so crucial in making this happen.

The Countryside Communities Fund, set up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, is supporting local charities and groups, food banks and others providing essential local services in locations where Countryside operates across the country. The Communities Fund allocated £1m of funds at the end of 2020 and another £1m has been pledged by the business in 2021 to continue supporting communities most vulnerable.

This funding builds on the £24,000 of donations made from the Countryside Communities Fund to Barking & Dagenham charities in 2020, with £10,000 donated to Future Youth Zone, around £7,000 to the Sycamore Trust, £5,000 to the Pennu Charity and £2,500 to the Becontree community supermarket.

Countryside is creating almost 4,000 new homes in Barking & Dagenham in a mix of tenures through its Beam Park, Fresh Wharf and Trinity Place regeneration schemes. With two multi-year regeneration projects currently in progress, we're committed to Barking & Dagenham and this holistic vision goes beyond simply building new homes and towards making a difference across the area.