East Midlands team donates to Shine charity

East Midlands has donated £2,000 to a charity that works with children with Spina Bifida after the granddaughter of a team member was helped by them.

Persimmon East Midlands donated the money to Shine through the Community Champions scheme, enabling them to support more families affected by the condition.

They were made aware of the invaluable work of the charity, based in Peterborough, through sales advisor Alex Newton, whose two-year-old granddaughter Isla Newton-Soames was born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

Alex said: “Isla is having physio every week thanks to Shine, and we hope that she will one day be able to walk. At the moment she is in a wheelchair as one leg is badly affected.

“She is such a wonderful child and we are grateful that Shine have been there to support her and our family right from the start when she was diagnosed before birth.”

The charity offer advocacy, educational and employment support, counselling and physiotherapy to help people manage their condition.

Kelly Tedd, Regional Fundraiser for Shine, said: “We support 12,500 people across the country ranging from those diagnosed in pregnancy to end of life support.

“Thank you to Persimmon for this very generous donation.”

Amy Rowlands, Sales Director for Persimmon Homes East Midlands, said: “We are passionate about supporting charities and making a positive difference within our community and when Alex shared Isla’s story we knew we wanted to help this very worthy cause.

“It is a pleasure to know that so many other families will be able to receive the same level of care as a result of our donation.”

Joining the presentation at Persimmon’s Hartley Grange development in Whittlesey, where Alex is based, was Cllr Haq Nawaz, of Fenland District Council.

He said: "This is a great example of the commendable way local businesses and the community can work together to everyone's benefit. It was a genuine pleasure to be part of this ceremony. Thank you to Persimmon Homes for arranging this."