Coca-Cola site in Morpeth makes £5k donation to disability employment charity

Azure Charitable Foundation (Azure), based in Cramlington, works to improve the lives of people who are disabled or disadvantaged through supported housing, training, employment and other community integration.

As part of its work to support people with disabilities into paid employment, the charity operates Azure Grounds Maintenance and it has been contracted by CCEP’s Morpeth site for almost 15 years.

The team, comprised entirely of those with a disability, undertakes tasks such as cutting the grass, maintaining the borders and planting at the bottler’s manufacturing location.

In an extension of its commercial support for Azure, CCEP’s Morpeth site has now made a £5,000 donation via its Community Fund.

The money will help Azure to open a garden centre in the local area, where people on its vocational horticultural, hospitality and catering and retail training programmes will be able to work following the completion of their course.

Seamus Kerrigan, operations director at the CCEP Morpeth site, said: “CCEP is committed to helping to ensure that disability is no barrier to the workplace, and the team at Azure help to prove this every day.

“We’re incredibly proud to be able to repay them with this donation.”

The funds will also help Azure fund the development of new classrooms for its programmes to meet the increase in demand the charity is seeing.

Dr Peter Wilson, chief executive at Azure Charitable Foundation, said: “The funding from CCEP means we can make sure we’re meeting people’s needs, while enriching their lives and futures.”