British Land : Welcomes Regent’s Place Community Fund’s First Grants

28 Sep 2016

British Land is delighted to welcome the first beneficiaries of the Regent's Place Community Fund, a unique collaboration between companies based at Regent's Place that was launched in April this year. The fund has recently announced the names of five new charitable projects awarded with grants of up to £9000 each.

The groundbreaking scheme was founded by British Land and Regent's Place Management with Regent's Place occupiers Capital One, Dentsu Aegis Network, Gazprom Marketing and Trading and Lendlease, and has resulted in a collaboration to pool £30,000 to invest in the local community. It is managed by The London Community Foundation, a registered charity that in partnership with donors has invested over £50million into charities and community projects throughout London.

The fund endeavours to make a meaningful difference to people in the local Camden area by helping smaller organisations around Regent's Place and focuses on causes that support skills and access to employment, social cohesion in the community and healthy living.

Paul Jaffe, Asset Manager British Land said, 'Fulfilling a cross-campus demand for increased community aid, we are proud to bring together our varied occupiers to support these grass roots charities. By joining forces to create the fund, we are in a stronger position to give back to even more projects supporting those in need who are right on our doorstep. Each chosen project impressed the panel with their dedication to minority groups in the immediate area of Regent's Place. We wish all the organisations well in developing their programmes'.

The chosen charities that will receive funding are:

C4WS Homeless Project (C4WS)
C4WS was established in 2005 and works with vulnerable people experiencing homelessness. £9,000 has been granted to CW4S to run a weekly Jobs Club for 30 homeless people; offering support, advice and one-to-one mentoring. Whilst many homeless people experience multiple welfare issues such as substance misuse or poor physical or mental health, C4WS staff identified the need for a dedicated time and space to focus on employment opportunities for the homeless.

Camden People's Theatre (CPT)
CPT has been making theatre by, with and for the people of Camden for over 22 years. Much of CPT's work is with the local area of Camden and its residents - from plays and events which explore key local issues such as High Speed 2, to outreach schemes designed to bring in local residents who do not normally engage with the arts. £5,000 has been granted to CPT, which will provide 40 local young people the chance to engage with theatre artists through a 30-week programme designed to build their confidence, improve their self-esteem and increase their social circles.

Third Age Project (TAP)
Established in 2009, the TAP is a membership organisation for adults in the West Euston area over the age of 50, and supports people who are in need through the provision of catering facilities, education, recreation and leisure activates. There are currently 540 registered members, of which over a third are over 75 years old and have been referred to TAP from GP's, social workers and hospitals.
£5,000 has been granted to fun a free weekly 60+ Health Club. TAP identified a need for a 60+ health club, as most local clubs focus on younger and more affluent groups, where the majority of attendees are currently women. The new Health Club will deliver a programme of supported physical activity sessions and health advice for 100 people.

New Diorama Theatre (NDT)
Based in a priority renewal area, parts of the NDT's local community rank in the top 10% of the most deprived areas England - with high levels of unemployment, income and health deprivation and child poverty. Opened in 2010, the NDT operates a community programme that allows disadvantaged community members and children to use the theatre space free of charge - a place in which they can be creative and inspired. £5,000 has been granted to the NDT to increase community access to the theatre for 1,988 local people - including captioned performances for the deaf, 'relaxed' performances for people with autism, sensory and communication disorders, and matinee performances for 400 isolated, older people, all of which will include refreshments and an opportunity to meet the cast.

Scene & Heard (S&H)
S&H is a unique mentoring project that partners disadvantaged children of Somers Town with volunteer theatre professionals. Each child is given one-to-one mentoring from the age of nine, and the opportunity to engage with a positive adult role model beyond their normal experience. Academically disadvantaged children are referred to S&H by junior schools in Camden, Edith Neville and St Aloysius. £5,000 has been granted to S&H, which will enable 10 disadvantaged children from Somers Town to complete a 'one-to-one' course. 10 unique plays will be written by professional playwrights working with the children, who will then perform the pieces alongside professional actors at the New Diorama Theatre to 240 audience members.

More information can be found at www.regentsplace.com/communityfund

Contact:
Helen Lo, British Land - 07912 572619

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the London Community Fund
The London Community Foundation is dedicated to supporting local communities to meet the needs of their residents. Our aim is to help build better connected, stronger and more resilient communities. As a Community Foundation, we bring together companies and individual philanthropists to make a major impact for the most disadvantaged groups and communities within London.

Our work has helped to improve the lives of Londoners affected by homelessness, unemployment, isolation, domestic violence, child poverty and gang crime. The London Community Foundation is a registered charity and, thanks to the support of our donors, we were able contribute over £6 million to 1,000 different groups in London in the last year.

About British Land

We are one of Europe's largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London offices. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed, of £20.0 billion (of which British Land share is £14.6 billion) as valued at 31 March 2016.

Our properties are home to over 1,200 different organisations ranging from international brands to local start-ups. Our objective is to deliver long term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people's everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to finance these places effectively.

Retail assets account for 50% of our portfolio. As the UK's largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising over 20 million sq ft of retail space across multi-lets, superstores, department stores and leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 48% of our portfolio, is focused on London. We have an attractive mix of high quality buildings in well managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our Offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.5 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent's Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share). The remaining 2% of our portfolio is at Canada Water where we have a 46 acre redevelopment opportunity in our medium term pipeline.

Our industry-leading sustainability strategy is a powerful tool to deliver lasting value for all our stakeholders. By supporting communities, improving environments and growing economies, we create Places People Prefer and enhance long-term returns.

In April 2016 British Land received the 2016 Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development as part of Her Majesty The Queen's 90th birthday honours. The Award is the UK's highest accolade for business success and is given to companies which bring major economic, social and environmental benefits through their own business success. It was awarded to British Land for continuous achievement in all these areas over the last five years.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

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