A HOUSEBUILDER has donated £12,000 to causes close to the hearts of its employees.

Staff at Barratt Developments Yorkshire East, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, were invited to nominate charities which were important to them in 2020.

A different charity each month benefited from the company’s Community Fund scheme, with the first donation of 2020 going to Wilf Ward Trust, in Pickering.

The charity helps to provide opportunities for adults with learning disabilities in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The money raised as part of the scheme, which launched in 2019, was in addition to £35,000 raised last year for the housebuilder’s charity of the year, York and Scarborough-based Safe and Sound Homes (SASH).

The 12 deserving causes included York children’s charity, The Island, and York Mind, which was nominated by Nicola Wilson, PA to the company’s commercial directo following the tragic death of a close friend. York-based OSCARs Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity, which was set up in 2014 in memory of nine-year-old Oscar Hughes from Dunnington, also benefited.

Since launching 34 years ago, the Trust has grown to more than 1,100 staff offering a large variety of supported living accommodation and residential services in care.

Daniel Smith, managing director of Barratt Developments Yorkshire East, said: “We are always looking for ways to support the communities in which we build, so we’re thrilled to have been able to donate £1,000 to each of these worthy charities and organisations with our Community Fund scheme throughout 2020, especially during the uncertainty that lockdown and the pandemic brought.

“We’re now looking forward to working closely with the local communities across East Yorkshire to offer support to 12 more charities in 2021.”