Brighton charities welcome donations from Amazon

The donations were made to The Clock Tower Sanctuary, Friends of Downs Infant School (FODIS), Take Shelter and Blind Veterans UK following nominations of support from employees at Amazon’s corporate office in Holborn.

The Clock Tower Sanctuary, which received a donation of £2,000, helps young people experiencing homelessness through weekly activities and one-to-one case working. The charity provides hot meals, clean clothes and washroom facilities for 16-to-25-year-olds at its drop-in day centre in central Brighton.

Friends of Downs Infant School (FODIS) provides equipment and facilities to help support Downs Infant School, a primary school in Brighton, to provide an inclusive and nurturing environment for their staff and pupils. The charity received £2,000 from Amazon.

Take Shelter is a group of volunteers who are proactive in the restoration, conservation and preservation of the Brighton air raid shelter underneath Downs Junior School. The shelter was restored in 2012 and since then, the team has created an underground museum containing World War Two memorabilia. Take Shelter received £2,000 from Amazon.

Blind Veterans UK, which received £4,000 from Amazon, provides vision-impaired veterans in Brighton and around the UK with rehabilitation, training and emotional support. The charity offers support to ensure veterans can learn the skills needed to regain their confidence and independence to live the life they choose.

Mathew Godfrey, a Senior Customer Solutions Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS), who lives in Brighton, nominated the Clock Tower Sanctuary for support:

“I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Clock Tower Sanctuary for the essential work they do for young people who find themselves homeless. I'm so pleased that Amazon can make a difference for these young people through this donation. The funds will go towards Crisis Support, giving young people the emergency support they need when they have nowhere else to turn. It's easy to forget how lucky we are sometimes when we're at home surrounded by family, and it doesn't take a lot for someone to suddenly find themselves in a difficult situation. I'm really grateful to The Clock Tower Sanctuary for everything they do and am so grateful for this opportunity to do more to support my local community.”

Hannah Coogan, from The Clock Tower Sanctuary, said: “From the staff and volunteers at The Clock Tower, I would like to say thank you to the team at Amazon for acknowledging young people’s resilience in the city and offering us their support. It is great to receive this donation from Amazon’s corporate office in London.”

These donations form part of Amazon’s Volunteer Cash Donation Programme, where Amazon employees nominate local causes where they volunteer their time, to receive a cash donation from the company. Throughout September, Amazon employees are getting together for Amazon’s Global Month of Volunteering, an initiative that aims to help the communities where they live and work. In collaboration with hundreds of community organisations around the world, Amazon employees will participate and lead in-person and virtual volunteering opportunities to support causes they’re passionate about.

“Throughout September, we will come together to help some incredible organisations who are making a real difference in the areas where our employees live and work,” said John Boumphrey, Amazon UK Country Manager. “It’s fantastic to see our employees sharing their ideas and tapping into their passions to give back to our local communities.”

Community donations and employee volunteering are just two of the ways Amazon supports the communities in and around its operating locations across the UK. Amazon provides students, teachers and parents with free computer science and STEM education programmes through Amazon Future Engineer and has teamed up with charity partner Magic Breakfast to deliver more than six million healthy breakfasts to children at risk of hunger in disadvantaged areas of the country. Earlier this year, Amazon partnered with Comic Relief to become the official home of the Red Nose. Amazon employees across the UK hosted fundraising activities and together with their customers and partners, raised £2.7 million to support those going through the toughest time of their lives.

Learn more about the ways Amazon supports its communities.