A MIDLANDS bus company has raised more than £3,000 for youth homelessness charity St Basil’s.
National Express West Midlands raised the sum after selecting St Basil’s as its community partner for 2017.
The company will focus its charitable efforts on raising as much money as possible for St Basil’s this year.
Staff at Bordesley held a Bake Off event with tasty treats being sold off – resulting in £304 in donations to support young people across the region.
Rachael Ashford, HR coordinator at National Express West Midlands, said: “We’re proud to be part of the communities that we serve and are delighted to have launched our partnership with St Basil’s.
“The charity does incredible work to address youth homelessness and support young people in the region.
“We’re looking forward to helping in whatever way we can.”
Barrie Hodge, head of fundraising and communications at St Basil’s, said: “We are delighted that National Express West Midlands has chosen to support us as their local community partner.
“Our work focuses on making the lives of young people in the communities we serve better.
“This is a real commitment from National Express in improving young lives and we can’t thank them enough.”
In addition to the community partnership with the bus operator’s Bordesley office, St Basil’s has been successful in securing a £2,500 community grant from the National Express Foundation – the transport operator’s own registered UK charity.
Many of the young people that St Basil’s work with have drug and alcohol problems which affects their mental health, relationships with other people, and ability to live within the local community.
The National Express Foundation funding will support the cost of drug and alcohol awareness sessions, helping young people gain a greater understanding of the impact of their behaviour.
