Westminster Group Foundation is proud to pledge it’s support for Banbury Samaritans as they celebrate their 50th anniversary milestone.

To mark the event, football icon David Beckham has generously donated a personalised signed shirt for auction, with all proceeds going towards Samaritans’ essential services for the Banbury branch. This initiative underscores the power of community solidarity in promoting mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

Banbury Samaritans, with 90 dedicated volunteers answering calls seven days a week, has been a lifeline for individuals in emotional distress, offering hope and support to those in need.

To view or bid in the auction please visit: https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/davidbeckhambanburysamaritans.

The Westminster Foundation has since 2007 assisted the Rotary Club of Banbury in their community work that they carryout in Sierra Leone, building new schools, extending existing schools, providing, school uniforms, water harvesting systems, solar panels and through the Ebola and Covid pandemics essential food supplies

The latest new school just completed is located at Kono Town and in recognition of the support given by the Westminster Foundation it has been named “Westminster Community Secondary School”

The school consists of two classrooms, an office, staff room and a five-cubicle toilet block, the concrete foundations have been laid for the next phase, another two classrooms.

Year 7 & 8 pupils are now currently enrolling for the new term.

Westminster Group Foundation was pleased to be able to showcase our work to visitors at Westminster Group’s Queen’s Award & Open Day 2021, hosted at the group’s headquarters site in Banbury, UK.

The event hosted a large contingent of Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Embassy staff & Government representatives from countries around the world, as well as customers, partners, and shareholders.

Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Sir Tim Stevenson CVO OBE, presented Westminster Group with the royal Grant of Appointment scroll and a commemorative crystal bowl.

Westminster Group Foundation was delighted to have a stand on the site and to have the opportunity to showcase our charity work to visitors.

In October 2020, Westminster’s charity, the Westminster Group Foundation, donated a Sanitary Gate sanitising tunnel to the Sierra Leone Aviation Authority, who installed it at Freetown International Airport in Lungi. The tunnel is used to sanitise passengers within the airport, as well as to maintain high safety levels.  Inside the tunnel is a disinfectant liquid effective in reducing the viral load present on surfaces by 99% in just 5 seconds, without causing harm to humans.

The Westminster Foundation has been actively supporting charitable causes in Sierra Leone for many years and donated stable commodities during the lockdown in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Foundation also provided support during the Ebola Crisis and continues to work with many local projects, providing funding and equipment wherever it can.

Giulio Barbieri Outdoor Solutions, the manufacturer of the Sanitary Gate sanitising tunnel, recently interviewed Joanna Fowler, Head of Managed Service Division for the Westminster Group and Trustee of the Westminster Foundation, to talk about the donation and its significance for Sierra Leone.

What led Westminster Group to choose Sanitary Gate for Freetown Airport?

We are very active at Freetown Airport: we have been working with them since 2012.

As they were trying to put together their exit plan to start flights up again, we already had fever-detection in place because they had been using it since the Ebola crisis. One of the things we identified quite quickly with regards to the Covid-19 virus is that fever-detection was not as effective as it had been with some of the other viruses.

As we were moving much more towards sanitisation products, the Westminster Group saw Sanitary Gate and felt it was a good fit to improve passengers and stakeholders’ confidence and to help increase passengers’ flow without impacting their experience. It is very easy to install and very low-maintenance, and all those factors put together made us feel it was the best fit for that environment.

> How would you assess the socio-economic impact of such an instrument?

As soon as people disembark the aircraft, they can see it, it gives them a nice feeling of security. The Sierra Leone Aviation Authority is grateful for the donation that we made because it has just helped them in speaking to the airlines and in encouraging them to fly back into Sierra Leone and start rebooting the economy.

> What is the significance of the donation you made?

Because it is a large investment, it has attracted a lot of publicity, but for Westminster Group Foundation this donation is just the tip of the iceberg of what we actually do on a daily basis. We are continually trying to assist people locally where we operate, be it in the UK or in any other country where we are present. We try to help wherever we can.

The Westminster Group Foundation are proud to support AlansAfrica on their project to donate desk and bench sets to Port Loko Primary School in Sierra Leone.

Port Loko is a primary school in Sierra Leone with an attendance of just over 400 children from the 12 surrounding villages. Despite the government being able to pay the teachers and staff, basic amenities such as classroom furniture are not included in their funding.

Before the support given by AlansAfrica, 150 of the children had to either use benches as desks or sit and crouch on the floor, which are very difficult conditions for them to endure whilst trying to do their schoolwork.

With the help of Raging Fever FC, a group of Oxford United fans, we were able to provide 50 desk and bench sets, which each seat 3 children. These 50 desk and bench sets have meant that 150 children no longer have to sit on the floor to work, and this has really improved their day-to-day school life.

AlansAfrica and the Westminster Group Foundation are currently working to try and provide Port Loko Primary School with some more basic classroom furniture and equipment to further improve their quality of education.

Westminster would like to extend our thanks to both AlansAfrica and Raging Fever FC for their support towards this worthy cause.

The Westminster Group Foundation is proud to support the work of Banbury based charity Dogs for Good.

The charity makes life-changing differences for people with disabilities through the power of expertly trained dogs supporting people with autism, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and dementia, empowering them to live more independent lives. Top priority during the Covid-19 pandemic is the health, safety and wellbeing of their staff, volunteers, clients and dogs including practical tips to help your dog cope with the many changes, whether it be a pet dog or an assistance dog. The charity is constantly reviewing safety protocols to protect everyone connected with the charity and came to Westminster Group for essential advice and support.

We are pleased to support the charity by offering practical advice to aid the return to work of some of the staff and the donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) including face shields, face masks and hand held thermometers.

In response to the donation Dogs for Good stated:

‘We are very grateful to the Westminster Group Foundation for the donated items enabling us to re-start our post-lockdown operations in a very steady and measured way.’

We will continue to work with them going forward and look forward to meeting some of the amazing dogs in the not too distant future.