Birmingham community workers help out with homeless charity.
Four volunteers from Willmott Dixon’s Birmingham branch have helped around 100 clients at SIFA Fireside enjoy the most important meal of the day, by helping out with the breakfast service.
The volunteers, all from Willmott Dixon’s Birmingham South branch, helped serve breakfast to those in attendance at SIFA Fireside’s daily drop in session. Based in Digbeth, SIFA Fireside works to tackle homelessness and substance misuse in over 18s across Birmingham.
Led by Willmott Dixon’s Birmingham South community team, the volunteers arrived at the shelter in Digbeth at 8am to help prepare the kitchen for the busy morning. The team cooked bacon, buttered toast, brewed fresh tea and coffee to ensure all clients had enough to eat and drink. Once the service was complete the volunteers helped clean up and prepare the kitchen for lunch.
The team at SIFA Fireside is made up of 30 staff and 20 volunteers, ranging from local residents to former clients who have been abstinent from drugs and alcohol through working with the charity.
The volunteering comes after the community actions of Willmott Dixon staff received a royal seal of approval, with the company achieving a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. One of the areas highlighted by judges in making the award was the £1 million worth of community investment made by the company and staff each year to local good causes. The company has also received recognition after scooping gold in the Excellence in Social Responsibility category of the prestigious Investors in People awards.
One of the volunteers, assistant customer and community partner for Willmott Dixon, Matt Daykin, said, “Taking part in the breakfast service was very rewarding. At Willmott Dixon we are actively encouraged to take part in volunteer projects and SIFA Fireside is a very worthy cause.
“Everyone we served was so grateful for our time and effort, thanking us for every meal we prepared, every cup of tea we poured and every plate we collected. The experience of working with a charity like SIFA Fireside will stay with me and I’d encourage others to get involved.”
Volunteer organiser at SIFA Fireside, Kerry Wilkes, said, “It was great having the four volunteers from Willmott Dixon help us with the morning service – they got stuck in and were great to have around. As the old adage goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and the efforts of the volunteers are always appreciated amongst our clients.”
Willmott Dixon Partnerships is currently working with Birmingham City Council to repair and maintain 60,000 properties in the city. Its two contracts for the north and south of the city includes the areas of Edgbaston, Hall Green, Northfield, Selly Oak, Ladywood, Erdington, Perry Bar and Sutton Coldfield.
Mick Williamson, Managing Director of Willmott Dixon Partnerships said; “As a company we are working to make a real and positive difference to the lives of people living locally. We aim to do this through volunteer projects, fundraising initiatives, and charity partnerships with organisations such as SIFA Fireside.
“We want to play an active part in delivering initiatives that leave a real legacy and work to share these ideas through our Transforming Communities report, to help organisations deliver sustainable growth and help communities through these current austere times.”
