Northern construction group, the Applebridge Family, have been awarded Outstanding Charity Support by Small to Medium Sized Companies at the 2020 North East Charity Awards, for their outstanding commitment to helping families in need.
Based in the North East and Yorkshire, the Applebridge Family, made up of seven construction companies; ZTL, AD Plant, Applebridge Construction, Applebridge Building Services, Geocast, Retaining UK and Tarcon, have worked with several North-East charities during the pandemic. They include Middlesbrough FC Foundation, Remembering Rebecca, TFM’s Cash for Kids and Middlesbrough Food Bank.
In Summer 2020, the Applebridge Family partnered with Middlesbrough FC Foundation and ‘stepped up to the plate’ to distribute 30,000 meals over 30 days to 2,500 families, in Teesside. They were inspired by the End Child Food Poverty pledge from Marcus Rashford MBE.
Chefs at the Riverside Stadium freshly cooked the meals, daily, whilst Applebridge Family staff, their families and MFC Foundation volunteers helped to package the meals for distribution to nominated hubs every Monday to Friday. The Applebridge Family donated a collective £40,000 to the cause.
Helena Bowman, Head of the Middlesbrough FC Foundation said: “At MFC Foundation we support our local communities to raise aspirations and improve life chances. Working with Applebridge Family proved a great partnership and together we were able to support a lot of families from the Teesside Community with hot meals… They deserve high praise for their commitment to support to such an important cause.”
The Applebridge Family have an annual charity incentive for staff to get involved with local causes; to help raise awareness and to fundraise donations for families in need. Previous work has included partnering with St.Oswald’s Hospice for ‘Elmer’s Great North Parade in 2019.’ Applebridge Construction and Applebridge Building Services were responsible for sponsoring their own elephant ‘Memories’ and distributing 164 hand-painted sculptures across multiple locations, for the North-East based hospice’s, huge event.
They also named a digger after local boy Finley Ingles, who accepted their donation of £60,000 for life-changing brain surgery, in 2016.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Applebridge staff became creative with their fundraising ideas for their annual children’s charity, Remembering Rebecca. This included a staff leg-wax, virtual baking and craft competitions and organising for repairs to be completed on the homes of the children’s families, living with the rare generic condition, Lissencephaly. They have also been busy fundraising for Dementia UK and Just4Children.
This month will see them donate children’s gifts to TFM’s Cash for Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ appeal, and create food and drink parcels for Middlesbrough’s Food Bank.
The North East Charity Awards took place on the evening of Thursday 3rd December and saw Applebridge named as victors, topping off a great year of charity work by the group and its partners – work they will continue into 2021 and beyond.
Chris Brown, managing director of Applebridge Construction, said: “I am accepting this award on behalf of all those who work tirelessly to make these schemes possible.
To Helena and Paul at the Foundation, to the Foundation volunteers and MFC chefs who prepared the meals voluntarily for the free school meal initiative, to the staff of the Applebridge Family businesses and their families, who selflessly volunteer their time to help those families, most in need. It is hugely humbling to receive this award and it is a tremendous effort by all involved.”
