19th March 2020
McCarthy Stone’s team in South Shields has helped to raise an incredible £200,000 through its year-long fundraising partnership with national reading charity Coram Beanstalk, achieving twice the target it set itself for the year.
In 2019, McCarthy Stone announced it had chosen Coram Beanstalk as its charity partner to help improve the outcomes of children who struggle with reading, while promoting the wellbeing benefits of intergenerational volunteering among its nationwide communities.Originally setting itself a target of £100,000, all those at Seymour Court in South Shields have helped double the amount it expected to raise following a great response from its employees, residents and partners.
Coram Beanstalk recruits, trains and supports volunteers to provide one-to-one support to children aged 3 – 13 years old who have fallen behind with their reading levels and confidence. One in four children across the UK leave primary school without the skills to read, while 5.1 million adults are functionally illiterate. The support Coram Beanstalk volunteers provide significantly improves the outcomes for children across the UK by transforming reading abilities, enjoyment and confidence.
John Tonkiss, McCarthy Stone’s CEO, said: “I am immensely proud of all the fundraising efforts over the past year, from all our employees, residents and suppliers in South Shields. It’s great that we can support Beanstalk and all the wonderful work they do in making a real difference to children’s lives, while helping to inspire the next generation of readers.
“We are extremely grateful for the support shown by the team in South Shields who made a great contribution to the overall fundraising total, with people dropping-in to McCarthy Stone’s Northern developments to take part in a sponsored book reading event with local children. Suppliers and contractors also backed the regional team’s fundraising efforts, with financial donations and their participation in events and activities.
“It has been a truly remarkable year in the history of McCarthy Stone, and we are very proud to be presenting Coram Beanstalk with a cheque for such a considerable sum.”
Ginny Lunn, Managing Director for Coram Beanstalk, said: “This is aphenomenal fundraising achievement. McCarthy Stone’s wonderful employees and residents in South Shields have gone to great lengths and worked very hard this past year to raise £200,000 for us. We would like to say a sincere thank you to them all. The funds raised will make a real difference to thousands of children who struggle with reading and will help us expand our reach and deliver more vital reading support to children across the country who most need it.
“We have enjoyed a fantastic partnership with McCarthy Stone this past year and are very grateful to have been its charity of the year. What has been really special about this partnership is that it has achieved much more than fundraising, it has created a lasting relationship with McCarthy Stone who throughout the year have become reading helper volunteers in schools themselves. This will hopefully continue beyond the year-long partnership helping us reach more children over the coming years.”
More than nine out of ten customers would recommend McCarthy Stone to a friend, ensuring it has received the full Five Star award for customer satisfaction from the Home Builders Federation for 14 years’ running. McCarthy Stone is the only UK housebuilder of any size or type to achieve this accolade for 14 consecutive years, which is every year the awards have been run.
For more information about McCarthy Stone in South Shields, please call 0800 201 4811 or go to www.mccarthyandstone.co.uk/.
To find out more about the partnership and how resident and supporters got involved please go to www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/mccarthystone
