L.I.F.T. BAM Corp Volunteering Day Christmas 2024
LIFT (Low Income FamiliesTogether) are based in The Muirhouse Millenium Centre in North Edinburgh. They are committed to working in a holistic way with individuals, families and the community. They follow the ‘Every Child, Every Chance’ model.
LIFT aim to assist people to learn new skills to help improve their lives and in so doing, encourage their children to grow up feeling loved, safe and respected so that they can realise their full potential.
Through support and advocacy, LIFT tackles child poverty and aspires to increase wellbeing, decrease hardship and move persons forward from crisis.
This is done through one-to-one support and group work sessions involving: upskilling, budgeting, confidence building, cooking on a budget and employability skills.
As well as hosting regular community events, LIFT also offer additional services including their "Sharing Shelf" which allows members to buy items of food at an affordable rate, whilst still allowing choice and maintaining dignity.
Poverty is our highest reason for referrals to LIFT, both in work poverty and food poverty. We have seen a huge increase in referrals to us for in-work poverty support, to help families sustain employment and help with crippling household bills.
In October 2024, the ESES Communities Team met BAM at Fife Council’s “Meet the Buyer” Event in Dunfermline – where they chatted about upcoming opportunities to work with community groups in need of support in Edinburgh.
LIFT were looking for assistance to dismantle, pack up and store their ‘Santa Centre’ and make their premises fit for purpose for the start of the New Year. Hence, the team found the match for BAM within a matter of days.
BAM are a UK leader in engineering, construction, energy and facilities management whilst delivering a positive social impact in the communities they operate in.
We come back after the Christmas holidays and can’t open the centre until we have cleared away the madness of our Hamper appeals. This has been a massive help to staff who can get back to doing what they do best. Ensuring families have food to feed their families. We can not thank everyone enough for their kindness.
As part of BAM’s commitment to Social Sustainability our employees are entitled to one working day a year to participate in volunteering activities. On this occasion we were very pleased to offer our time and effort to the great team at the Millennium Centre, Muirhouse. The activity also raised awareness in our team of local social and economic issues, helped build new relationships and provided us with opportunities for our team to contribute their skills and efforts in the future.