ESES Communities is a development of Capital City Partnership, funded through the £1.3 billion Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal. As well as creating thousands of jobs over a 15-year period, core to the Deal is that communities also receive additional positive outcomes through community benefits.

The aim of the ESES Communities portal is to allow communities and good causes throughout the region to find out more about how they can directly benefit from developments in the City Deal. Whilst the portal is funded by the Deal, it is open to any public sector or other organisations across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Scottish Borders and Fife to facilitate matches between business and good causes.

Tom Gray, framework manager and environmental champion at Maxi Construction, said: “We’re delighted to be associated with ESES Communities. Although we’ve only been working with them for a few months we’ve already been able to connect with and support several local charities and community groups.”

Through its relationship with the team at ESES Communities, Maxi Construction has been able to deliver the following community benefits:

Edinburgh School Uniform Bank

Maxi Construction provided a donation of water bottles to Edinburgh School Uniform Bank (ESUB), which provides clothing and other essentials such as stationery to families in the city who struggle to meet the rising costs of sending children to school. It was because of this introduction that Maxi employees decided to run a donation drive during the Summer.

Julia Grindley of ESUB said: “We are experiencing more demand than ever before owing to the cost of living crisis. As well as clothing and stationery, there’s so much more that children need to take to school in order to support their learning experience and everyday wellbeing. Things like insulated water bottles can be expensive items for families to buy, so having Maxi make such a kind offer will mean that 20 local families will be able to send their child to school with one. Being properly hydrated is so important and having a reusable bottle of course cuts down on having to buy drinks in single-use plastic bottles. We’re really grateful to Maxi and the ESES Communities portal for making the link having registered a request for bottles.”

The Pennywell Pantry - Edinburgh

Supporting low income families and individuals in the Muirhouse and West Pilton areas, Maxi Construction provided a 150kg donation of food items to The Pennywell Pantry.

Cara Babineau, who works for Community Renewal to support families within the area said: “At a time when the costs of living are rising beyond belief, those accessing the Pennywell Pantry are already experiencing or at risk of food poverty within the household. We’re always in need of the donation of foods and essentials such as toiletries, cleaning products and other everyday consumable household items.

“Being able to provide essentials such as the cereals and other items that Maxi Construction have donated today is invaluable. We are very grateful. Our team registered the request on ESES Communities a few weeks ago, so it was a nice surprise someone responded so quickly!”

The Salvation Army – Hawick

Working at the heart of communities, and serving the most vulnerable people, The Salvation Army offers tailored support in the way of budget and debt advice and employment opportunities. Maxi Construction donated 200kg of food items to help stock its food bank which operates all year round.

Branch officer, Caroline Brophy-Park MBE, highlighted the recent rise in demand for the foodbank: “Over the last two years we have been reaching twice as many people as we have previously. Over 695 recipients, many of whom are families, have received support from the foodbank.”

Burnfoot Community Hub - Hawick

Maxi Construction delivered a donation of 150kg of food items to Burnfoot Community Hub which is a community owned and run centre which recently installed a shed enabling them to offer a foodbank facility to those in need in the Burnfoot area of Hawick.

Community engagement supervisor, Joyce Short said: “At this time when money is so tight and food costs rising, people are really struggling. Having support from companies like this makes a huge difference. They are able to help us to help our community live better lives and live lives that are not quite as hard as what they would be otherwise.”

Community benefits officer Calum Munro added: “Maxi has been absolutely fantastic in their proactive enthusiasm to support great causes through their work in Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders. They’ve provided real benefit to communities and families through their kind actions and we’re delighted to have made these links through the ESES Communities portal.”

Lisa Aitken values the work the charities do and commented: “I am grateful to the team at ESES Communities for putting us in contact with these charities and community groups. It has been a real eye-opener getting out into the communities and meeting the volunteers and recipients. It is apparent that the cost of living crisis is impacting people from all areas and it’s vital that we do all we can to help support. I look forward to seeing what other projects we can get involved with via the ESES Communities Portal”.