BEAR Scotland and its staff are continuing their commitment to giving back to the communities in which it operates. Good causes benefited from £4,772 donations from the Scottish trunk road operator.

Charities benefiting

The year kicked off with a staff raffle raising £900 for Macmillan Cancer Care, BEAR’s new national charity partner of the year.

Fourteen BEAR employees took part in Doddie Aid 2024. The challenge started on 1 January and ended on 3 February. Combined, they covered 3,678 miles and raised £1,572 for the MND charity, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

The first beneficiary of BEAR’s regional charity initiative, which sees local causes nominated for support by BEAR employees, was Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity which received £750 thanks to a nomination from Gillian Laurie, SE Correspondence Officer.

The organisation also supported three employees’ personal fundraising challenges with £250 corporate donations each for Autism Scotland, Prostate Cancer and Cash for Kids.

Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust, Tayside Cancer Support and Fresh Start Borders benefitted from our local charity initiative, which sees £1,000 donations offered to causes nominated by staff.

Community involvement

BEAR Scotland is committed to delivering a positive social footprint and that means supporting community initiatives as well as traditional charities.

We recently helped St Catherine’s Primary School, which serves a relatively deprived area of Edinburgh, pay for coach travel so its pupils could benefit from an educational site visit to the Education Centre at the Forth Bridges.

Another education initiative that we supported was Stirling Heritage Trust’s Women in Engineering Event at Stirling High School on Women in Engineering Day. We offered a £250 sponsorship.

The Rotary Club of Perth benefited from a £250 boost for its Perthshire Classic Car Tour.

Finally, six staff at the Early Learning Centre in Clackmannanshire now have brand new bright yellow waterproof jackets thanks to a donation from BEAR Scotland to protect them when they’re supervising outdoor activities at the nursery.