The Nottingham Building Society will next week (Wednesday 24 November) give £38,000 to a Nottingham community farm – the first donation from its new Samuel Fox Foundation.
Aptly the cheque will be presented to Stonebridge City Farm on the anniversary of the birthdate (24 November 1781) of philanthropist Samuel Fox, who as well as founding the building society in 1849 also helped feed, home and educate those who needed it most in and around Nottingham during the same era.
For over 170 years since then, The Nottingham has continued to adopt the philosophy of supporting communities. In the last ten years alone the building society and its teams have donated and fundraised over £1.3m to local good causes, helping nearly 53,000 of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
The Samuel Fox Foundation was set up this year and will be the target of in-house fundraising as well as donations from The Nottingham. Funds from the foundation will support projects and causes that help communities thrive, with a focus on helping young people fulfil their potential, inspire career journeys and build their future. As a mutual financial services organisation, encouraging financial capability also remains a focus of the building society’s community engagement programme.
It is fitting that the first foundation donation is to Stonebridge City Farm, who The Nottingham have ardently supported for years in recognition of the charity’s great work in providing a free-to-enter farm – the operation of which is supported by over 140 volunteers a week, many of whom have a mental health challenge or learning disability.
That backing has been in the form of donations and fundraising, but also hundreds of hours of volunteering time that has seen building society staff help with everything from painting barn walls to fixing fences.
Commenting on the latest donation and ongoing support, Stonebridge City Farm General Manager Peter Armitage said: “To receive an award of this magnitude is absolutely amazing. It will help us to continue to provide more opportunities and support for our volunteers in the months ahead.
“Stonebridge City Farm is a community charity that relies on support from local organisations and there is no doubt that The Nottingham leads the way in actively supporting local community groups such as ourselves.
“As well as financial support, they have provided many teams of volunteers that have helped us with essential work across the farm. Something that stands out is how everyone always takes a genuine interest in understanding our work and the challenges we face. Thank you so much to everyone at The Nottingham.”
The Nottingham’s Head of People and Development Anne Leivers added: “We are delighted that the first Samuel Fox Foundation donation is to Stonebridge City Farm, to support their excellent work.
“We are passionately committed to continuing to the legacy of our founder, Samuel Fox, and are confident he would have been extremely proud of not only the donation to Stonebridge but also the setting up of the foundation, in his name, to help many more great causes in the future.”
