West Country housebuilder boosts life-saving blood bike service with £1,975 donation
West Country housebuilder Devonshire Homes has presented its first donation to its charity of the year, South West Blood Bikes.
Announcing its charity partnership with South West Blood Bikes in 2022, the first £1,975 has been raised through Devonshire Homes’ open market sales. Devonshire Homes is also supporting the Cornwall Blood Bikes which has also been presented with its first donation.
The housebuilder, which currently has new build homes sites in Bovey Tracey, Bideford, Kingsbridge and St. Austell with upcoming sites in Altarnun, Yelland and Penzance, will continue to donate £25 to each charity for every open market house sold during the year and Devonshire Homes’ staff will also show their support by hosting and taking part in a variety of fundraising events.
The funds will help support the South West Blood Bikes life-saving service. Volunteer bikers use their advanced motorcycle skills to provide an ‘out of hours’ service to NHS partners, transporting essential urgent supplies such as whole blood, pathology samples, medication, medical equipment, medical notes and donor breast milk to NHS hospitals and hospices throughout Devon.
From 2017 to 2022, the award-winning housebuilder raised over £50,000 for local charities including Children’s Hospice South West and Hospiscare. The housebuilder also regularly supports bespoke causes including the Tiverton Rugby Club, Mid Devon Show, Tiverton in Bloom, Kingsbridge in Bloom and Blundells Rugby. Devonshire Homes hopes to live up to this reputation by continuing to fundraise for the South West Blood Bikes and the Cornwall Blood Bikes this year.
Jane Pearce, Sales and Marketing Director at Devonshire Homes, commented: “We’re delighted to present the South West Blood Bikes with our first donation of £1,975. They are a fantastic charity, providing a vital service to the NHS at a time when our NHS needs the extra support more than ever before. This is just the beginning, and we will be continuing to fundraise for the South West Blood Bikes in addition to making regular donations to the Cornwall Blood Bikes too.”
Mark Bentley, Chairman of South West Blood Bikes, attended Devonshire Homes’ launch event for its new Bideford site, The Grange, where he received a cheque on behalf of the charity. Guests also had the opportunity to ask Mark any questions they had about the charity, finding out more about the work volunteers carry out across the region.
Mark commented: “We were delighted to receive this support from Devonshire Homes. Our service is provided free to the NHS and Hospices in Devon, and so our only income is from the kindness of the community we serve. This has come at a huge moment of expansion for our charity, as we are about to take on a significant amount of new work, so Devonshire Homes’ donation will help us to achieve this.
“As we have no paid staff or Trustees, Devonshire Homes and indeed anyone donating to our charity can be assured that every single penny raised will be spent on saving lives, improving patient outcomes, and saving the NHS and Hospices locally money that they can instead spend on patient care.”
Independent housebuilder Devonshire Homes, based in Tiverton, has been creating new homes and communities in towns and rural areas across Devon and Cornwall since 1992. Current developments include: Longston Cross, Bovey Tracey; The Grange, Bideford; Applegate Park, Kingsbridge and Gwallon Keas, St. Austell.
