Taylor Wimpey : Funding new facilities for Broseley Life Skills

Date: Thursday 05 January 2017

A newly established community group based in Broseley, Shropshire, has received a helping hand from us to purchase some much needed construction materials for its brand new centre.

Our Midlands business unit, which is currently building high-quality new homes at Haycop Rise on the outskirts of town, has donated £500 to Broseley Life Skills to help fund renovations to a new venue where it relocated to in September 2016, in order to accommodate its growing popularity.

Joanne Horler (56) set up Broseley Life Skills along with her daughter Leanne Horler and sister in law Ann Anderson. The group has been running since September 2015 and supports people aged 18 and above who have additional needs such as learning difficulties, dementia or are recovering from a stroke.

'Broseley Life Skills offers a wide range of workshops to support local people, which help to improve self esteem, build confidence and increase self worth and general wellbeing,' explains Project Manager Joanne.

'We offer an array of activities to help members learn or improve skills, including cooking, baking, food safety and preparation, travel safety, money management, arts and crafts, gardening, woodwork, household skills and horticulture, as well as support people with their own hobbies and interests.

'Broseley Life Skills is a sole trading company and all of our profits are put back into the projects we run - for example to purchase materials, ingredients, tools and to provide staff with up to date training.

'Where possible, we also utilise talented local people to deliver workshops in specialist subjects, and most importantly help provide transport for people who are disadvantaged financially or otherwise would not be able to access our services.'

The donation came after Leanne, who is also a Project Manager for Broseley Life Skills, approached us for our support.

'We have been writing to local companies to ask for support, as well as using our own personal money to fund the group, as we are trying to get the building complete as soon as possible so we can support more people,' says Joanne.

'Taylor Wimpey's donation will be used to purchase cream wall tiles for the kitchen in our new centre, to match the cream kitchen which has kindly been donated to us by a friend.

'We have been running our workshops from my home but they have become increasingly popular, as we have been getting referrals from social workers and friends, so we no longer have the room to accommodate everyone, which is why it's really important that we relocate.

'This donation is helping us move forward with the completion of the kitchen, which is at the heart of the new centre with all the cooking and baking we do, and our members cannot wait to start using all the facilities.

'This really makes a difference to their confidence, as the ability to make their own food and drink with a little support really does grow their independence and skills.

'Broseley Life Skills currently has about eight members at the moment, but to cope with increasing demand we will be looking for volunteers in the future to help at our new centre, which is located in Posenhall on the outskirts of Broseley.

'We'd like to say thank you so much to Taylor Wimpey for their generous donation, as it helps massively with the development of this much needed service in Broseley.'

Anne Wallace, Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey Midlands, says: 'We feel it's extremely important to invest in the communities where we build our new homes, and what better way to support local people than by donating to Broseley Life Skills, who will make a real difference to those in need of additional help and assistance.

'We're delighted to lend our support to this project and we wish the group all the best for the future.'

There's a wonderful selection of two, three and four bedroom homes currently available at Haycop Rise.