BT volunteer wins grant for Midlothian good cause
Bonnyrigg Rose Boys Club gets new support
BT has rewarded four community groups in Edinburgh and the Lothians with grants of up to £700 to help them continue their good work.
The grants have been awarded through the company’s employee recognition scheme, the BT People Awards. The scheme recognises and rewards BT’s volunteering heroes, who offer their time and skills to help people in their local communities, by providing grants to organisations in which they are involved.
Bonnyrigg Rose Boys Club in Midlothian scooped a £500 sports voucher, while Edinburgh South Football Club won £700 in the BT Sport category and the 9th Ratho Cub Scout Group picked up a £500 award in the Civic Champion section. The Cockenzie and Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club in East Lothian received a special mention and a £230 award in the Digital Champion category of the awards.
BT major incident manager John Sime scooped the award for Bonnyrigg Rose Boys Club six years after his son fell in love with football and joined the four-a-side team. From being an enthusiastic parent, John qualified as a coach and now runs the whole team.
In addition to coaching, arranging fixtures and taking the team on match days, qualified first aider John works tirelessly to raise funds for the club.
He said: “I love my volunteering, and it takes up an enormous amount of my time. Coaching kids means the need for funds never ends, purely and simply because they grow non-stop! Our award will go towards buying new kit.
“Making sure the boys look good and are recognised as part of our local community is very important. It looks fantastic when all the age groups wear the same gear and are instantly recognisable as being part of Bonnyrigg Rose.”
In total, twelve groups in Scotland received grants worth nearly £7000 to help them continue their excellent work in the community. A full list is below.
Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: “Many of our employees contribute to the life of their communities, in a myriad of ways. The People Awards acknowledge the time and commitment that BT people across Scotland are giving to the local community groups for which they volunteer.”
UK wide, around 450 applications were received and 84 applicants received awards totalling £50,980. Applications were submitted by BT people from all over the world including Peru, India and Belgium. These included a wide range of community organisations from football clubs to police cadets to red squirrel protection, illustrating the wide variety of activities in which BT people are involved.
For more information and to see a complete list of the latest award recipients please visit:www.btpeopleawards.co.uk or see what BT can do to help charities by visiting:www.bt.com/charityportfolio.
ENDS
Photo: John Sime (back row in orange jacket) is pictured with some of the Bonnyrigg Rose club members celebrating the BT funding for new strips.
The Scottish winners are:
- Oldmeldrum Sports & Highland Games, AB51 0ES £500
• Edinburgh South FC, Gilmerton Road, EH16 5UD £700
• Bonnyrigg Rose Boys Club, EH19 3AS £500
• Inverness Skating and Ice Dance Club (Sunday Club), IV9 8RQ £500
• 9th Ratho Cub Scout Group, EH288TT £500
• Balmedie Scout Group, AB23 8WB £700
• 44th Dundee Coy Boys Brigade, DD5 2HQ £500
• Balmedie Leisure Centre, AB23 8YF £700
• Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club, EH32 0EE £230
• St Andrew Michael's Club (SAMs), G32 6QE £700
• Freedom of Flight, PA16 8AL £700
• Kingdom of Fife Group Advanced Motorists, KY2 6JP £700
