Small charity gets big backing
Nine of Scotland’s leading property companies have come together to support an urgently needed build project for a charity in Kinross-shire.
The collaboration of top Scottish developers, architects, planners, engineers, landscape designers and surveyors has been formed to plan and deliver a new school for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children.
The project for Seamab Care and Education is seen as a rare opportunity for the property industry to put its time and expertise into a physical asset that will make a profound difference to the lives of young people who have had a severely traumatic start in life.
Led by Chris Stewart, CEO of Chris Stewart Group and chair of Seamab, alongside Alastair Wallace of Thomas & Adamson, the group has secured planning permission for the new school and has now passed the halfway point of its £5.5m fundraising target.
It is now urging contractors and supply chain companies to get involved so that the technical specification can be progressed, and the project can be delivered.
Wallace said: “Seamab is an unapologetically small charity, and so deserving of our support. Seeing the work they do and the children they care for is incredibly moving. Simply put they need a new school. They currently exist in an old residential property that is no longer fit for purpose. Creating a better environment with well-designed educational and play spaces is what we as an industry can do and why we have come together in a genuinely collaborative effort.
“We are looking for contractors and materials suppliers who can offer either or both financial support or contributions that will see the plans come to reality. It clearly contributes to any charity benefit programme a company has in place, but, in this case, the return on investment is delivering a better start in life for many young children. It’s something we all want to do.”
The creation of a new fit-for-purpose school will provide a stimulating environment where children can recover, learn and grow. The new school, due to be ready in early 2025, will be a physical launchpad for children to believe in their potential and build a future which once might never have been imaginable to them.
The property companies that make up the design team are Chris Stewart Group, Thomas & Adamson, Thomson Gray, Rybka, Will Rudd, Harrison Stevens Landscape Architecture & Urban Design, Davidson Chalmers Stewart LLP, 3DReid Ltd and LBA - Architecture + Design.
