The owner of Gateshead cheese maker Primula has announced that it donated £7.8m to good causes last year.
Profits from The Kavli Group, which includes Team Valley based Primula Cheese and Castle MacLellan, enabled Kavli Trust to donate the multimillion-pound sum.
Kavli Trust is the sole owner of The Kavli Group, which employs 840 people in four countries and has contributed a total of £62.7m to good causes around the world since 2012.
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Most funds are allocated to good causes in the four countries where The Kavli Group operates - the UK, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
In the North East recent beneficiaries include St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth, Newcastle, where staff were presented with a cheque for £30,000 by the cheese brand to fund a range of accessible play equipment for its children and young adults service.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) also received a £26,000 investment to help with their focus to offer 24/7 critical care support in the region.
Inger Elise Iversen, general manager at Kavli Trust said: “At the Kavli Trust, sharing is at the heart of everything we do. That is why we donate all of our profits to good causes. We are delighted to have allocated £7.8m to projects within humanitarian work, research and culture last year and hope to beat this figure in 2022.
“We will continue to invest in strengthening child and adolescent mental health for years to come at the Kavli Trust. It is more important than ever to contribute to all children and young people experiencing well-being, security and belonging.
“We also choose to support several projects promoting climate and environmental solutions. As part of the food business, we have a responsibility and a potential to contribute to good solutions within responsible consumption and production of food. The fight against food waste is therefore another main focus.”
The Entrepreneurs’ Forum aims to celebrate its 20th anniversary by raising £20,000 for a host of good causes.
Founded by Sir Peter Vardy and Lorna Moran OBE in 2002, the North East’s largest entrepreneur membership organisation is inviting its members and partners to get involved.
Alongside a charity auction held during its Gala dinner in June, the Forum is encouraging its network to join in its Charity Challenge, a circumnavigation of Kielder Water on Saturday 2nd July 2022.
Participants can either hike the full 27-mile route around northern Europe’s largest man-made lake or opt for a half distance trek.
Elaine Stroud, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Many of our members have strong associations with charities and relish an adventure such as this that also allows them to raise money for good causes.
“We’ve organised this epic hike to give everyone the opportunity to test themselves physically and mentally in one of the region’s most beautiful locations. We’ll be providing plenty of encouragement along the way and our members can choose to support whichever charity they wish.
“Collectively raising over £20,000 would be an incredible achievement and a great way of marking the Forum’s birthday. I know our members and partners are really up for the challenge.”
A South Tyneside charity is giving dozens of local young people a better chance of finding work with the help of new funding from Newcastle Building Society.
The South Tyneside Churches Key Project, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, runs a variety of projects and activities designed to prevent youth homelessness and support people in hardship right across the borough.
The Key Project has now set up a new employability initiative offering practical advice and support to anyone needing help to find, get and keep a new job, as well as raising their aspirations for what they can achieve.
It’s hoped that the scheme, which is being funded through a £3,000 Newcastle Building Society grant, will eventually help around 50 local young people – and it has already helped four of the early participants find new jobs and apprenticeships.
The funding is being provided through the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation, which offers grants to charities and community groups located in or around the communities served by the Society’s branch network.
Jo Benham Brown, business development and communities manager at the South Tyneside Churches Key Project, says: “Our work is about much more than just helping someone find a job – it’s about raising aspirations with our young people, realising the huge potential that so many of them have and showing them the opportunities that are out there for them.
“Many of our service users have grown up in situations where unemployment was sadly just a fact of life and often don’t have the tools and knowledge to even prepare for finding a job that many of us take for granted.
“This new project aims to change their aspirations, equip them with the skills they need to get into the workplace and help them start to build successful, independent lives.”
Erin Mulligan, people partner at Newcastle Building Society, said: “Over the last 12 months, we’ve focused the majority of our grant giving on charities and projects which are linked to employability, as part of helping communities manage, mitigate and recover from the impacts of Covid-19 and delivering sustainable positive change across our region.
“The Key Project sets a terrific example of how this can be done in practical terms and it’s great to see results coming from their work so quickly.”
Since its launch in 2016, Newcastle Building Society’s Community Fund has also contributed over £2.1m in grants and partnerships to a variety of charities and projects across the region, including the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Prince’s Trust.
