Rushden charity awarded £1,000 to help Serve's community befriending service

A Rushden charity has received a donation from a homebuilder to help towards its work providing support to elderly members of the community with a variety of different services.

Serve specialises in offering a range of services to help people remain independent in their own homes, such as community transport, minibus day trips and homecare services.

Barratt Homes’ £1,000 donation will help to ensure Serve can continue its befriending service by enabling the recruitment and training of volunteers to spend time providing important social interaction with elderly people and vulnerable adults in the community.

Jess Slater, chief executive at Serve, said: “We were over the moon to hear about Barratt Homes’ donation, it’s wonderful to have the support of other local businesses.

“We have been very busy throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, for example getting service users to their vaccination appointments. Also, our befriending services has been recognised at Statutory Level and we have since been working closely with the NHS to provide this at a countywide level.

“The developer’s community fund scheme is excellent; it shows dedication and support to the community at a local level. We are extremely grateful for Barratt Homes’ contribution towards combating loneliness and isolation amongst the older generation in the local community.

“The donation will go a long way to contributing towards the mission and vision of our charity.”

Amer Alkhalil, managing director at Barratt Homes Northampton, said: “We are so pleased to be able to support Serve and the amazing work they are doing.

“It is important to us a leading housebuilder to recognise and support local charities and organisations who help the communities near our developments.”

To find out more about Serve and the work it is doing, please visit https://serve.org.uk/.