LOCAL CHURCH’S PARENT AND CHILD GROUP WELCOMES DONATION FROM HOUSEBUILDER

A parent and children group based in a local church has secured a £1,000 donation from Persimmon.

Connect Parent and Child project, located less than two miles from Persimmon’s North West regional office in Urmston, has received the donation after applying for funding to Persimmon’s Community Champions scheme.

The donation will help cover the running costs for the church’s Connect Parent and Child project. Connect provides a safe space for parents to connect with other local parents. The group, established in January 2015, supports parents of babies and children between 0-5 years of age.

Since 2021, CONNECT has facilitated mental health and well-being sessions for mothers and babies under 12 months. After a successful pilot, the church is looking to expand the service to offer ‘Dads Connect’, a session aimed at dads, grandads and male carers, helping them to build connections and stronger relationships with others in the Stretford community, improving their mental wellbeing.

The monthly sessions, facilitated at Sevenways Methodist Church, will take place on a Saturday morning and incorporate storytelling, sensory activities, singing and child-led play.

Persimmon has donated over £1.5 million to charities, community groups and local organisations nationwide via its Community Champions scheme over the last two years. Donations of up to £6,000 are available to local community and charitable groups every quarter, with applications received via the Community Champions website.  

Jo Stockton, Session Facilitator for Dads Connect, said:

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“Dads Connect aims to build connections and stronger relationships among dads in the Stretford community and surrounds, with children 0-5 years. The monthly sessions, facilitated at Sevenways Methodist Church, take place on a Saturday morning and incorporate story-telling, sensory activities, singing and child-led play.

“Dads don’t get as many opportunities to connect with other parents and build a group of supporting families as mums do; the funding from Persimmon will help us to provide more sessions for local dads and continue our work to help reduce feelings of isolation and improve mental wellbeing amongst local families.”

 

Karl Wiseman, Deputy Regional Chairman at Persimmon, said:

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“Through our Community Champions scheme, Persimmon is committed to making a difference to the people in communities local to where we operate.

“The importance of mental health is something which can’t be understated and is extremely important to us at Persimmon. In 2019, Persimmon signed the Building Mental Health charter to raise awareness and improve mental health in the home building industry.

“Therefore, it’s pleasing to support Sevenways Methodist Church and their Dad’s Connect initiative, which will have a genuine impact on the mental health of people in the local area.”