Huntly store surprises Gordon Rural Action with £13,500 Asda Foundation grant

Community champion Michelle Gunn from our Huntly store surprised the team at Gordon Rural Action with an Asda Foundation Spaces and Places grant for £13,500 which will go towards the redevelopment of a community space.

Gordon Rural Action is a local charity working to improve the quality of life for individuals in the community through the provision of a high quality, professional and focused advice and support service.

The funding will be used to fix various structural problems in its current building which is over 50 years old. It will also ensure the building is wind and watertight so they can continue to provide essential services for the community.

Michelle said: “I am so pleased that we have secured this donation for Gordon Rural Action. The organisation works hard to support food banks, baby banks, uniform banks and its latest initiative, to provide education for children who don’t attend school. The volunteers are lovely, and it is great to see their enthusiasm about the building being transformed.

“Organisations such as Gordon Rural Action are very important because they provide a space within the community to bring people together. They also provide a befriending service, offering weekly phone calls for those who may need it. I am very excited to develop our partnership and look forward to seeing the space come to life.”

Laura McNeill, fundraiser at Gordon Rural Action, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a grant from Asda Foundation. We are a small team and this fills us with excitement at the prospect of being able to do more for our community.

“The funding will enable us to provide staff and volunteers with a safe work environment. We’ll also be able to continue to run our charity shop and raise funds for our advice and support hub that helped over 2,000 people last year.

“We’ve seen a 100% increase in people accessing our services this year due to the cost-of-living crisis. This includes a huge increase in demand for our uniform exchange and baby bank, offering free items for children and helping families reduce their outgoings during a tough time."

The grant is part of the Asda Foundation’s investment of £750k in 60 local community groups and charities across the UK, with the aim of transforming community spaces and places, after customers said the cost-of-living crisis has impacted their social and community interaction.

Over 60 ‘Spaces and Places’ grants ranging from £5,000 to £25,000, have been awarded across the UK.