Spectrum Properties, a family-run business based in Dalmarnock, has stepped in to provide office suite accommodation for KidsOut, a charity which runs special outings for disadvantaged children as well as providing boxes of toys for children in refuge throughout the year.
This year, it has successfully provided food vouchers to refuge families during lockdown as well as toys and other treats to help ease some of the strain that has had to be endured.
The annual KidsOut Giving Tree appeal, the inspiration for so many other Giving Trees internationally, collects brand new toys, books and other treats from companies and individuals throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.
In Scotland, these items are then distributed locally to children disadvantaged by their circumstances, via refuges, smaller charities, schools, social services, community groups, etc.
The charity had been kindly lent warehouse premises as a base for its operations in Scotland.
But with those premises recently being sold, Spectrum Properties stepped into the breach with the offer of a business unit at its Abercromby Business Centre in Dalmarnock.
Mairiona McInally-Kier, Chief Ambassador Scotland for KidsOut, said: “On behalf of the children we will be able to help this coming festive season, I’d like to thank Spectrum Properties very much for its magnificent generosity towards KidsOut.
“There’s so much uncertainty at the moment that it means the world to be provided with such a fantastic facility to use as a base. We are truly grateful.”
Spectrum Properties Managing Director Bill Roddie said: “Charities such as KidsOut can make all the difference between a sad and lonely Christmas and one with smiles, fun, surprises and laughter.
“In Scotland, the charity is run entirely by volunteers and their unstinting efforts have affected many thousands of lives over the years, so we are delighted to make this small contribution which will help them to carry out their most worthwhile mission.”
It is not the first time the generous organisation has come to the rescue of worthy causes.
Earlier this year its Shedman subsidiary donated facilities to the Rising Stars Nursery in Crownpoint Road and the Lanarkshire-based Blameless charity.
Spectrum has been a previous benefactor of Blameless.
For the past five years it has funded a pantomime visit for up to 100 vulnerable youngsters and families. With pantomime off the agenda this year, the company instead donated £1500 in Aldi food vouchers.
Spectrum Properties directly employs 75 people and the same number of sub-contractors.
Established by Mr Roddie in 1988, the company now has a portfolio valuation of £60 million and a turnover in excess of £5 million.
The KidsOut charity was founded in 1990, initially as a cooperative project between the Moores Family (owners of Littlewoods) and a local Rotary Club.
By 2015 it had become the only charity nationally to support every child in a Women’s Aid Federation refuge.
Services have since expanded to provide sensory rooms in schools and hospices, and include an exciting, interactive online resource called World Stories, which helps improve literacy and cultural understanding in the classroom and at home.
Rotary and Rotary International continue to be at the heart of KidsOut, supporting the charity to give fun days and experiences to in excess of 65,000 children each year.
