A WELLINGTON charity that combats loneliness has received a donation from a UK housebuilder.

Persimmon Homes South West has chosen to back WHERE - a charity that combats loneliness amongst adults with disabilities - with a £1,000 donation.

The grant comes thanks to the housebuilder’s national Community Champions scheme which awards match funding to charities each month.

Charities can apply for up to £1,000 each month, with the housebuilder having given away over £1million from the scheme since March 2015.

Barbara Ford, CEO at WHERE, said: “Our charity will benefit so much from Persimmon Homes South West’s generous funding.

“WHERE aims to reduce isolation by encouraging friendship amongst our members, providing services to support adults with a disability, long-term health conditions, or those that have become isolated due to health, age or bereavement.

“We currently have in excess of 600 people coming through our door every month and we have opened a café and an Active Living Centre which holds courses, activities and events.

“Persimmon’s donation will help support these services and take us from strength to strength.”

WHERE has recently invested in a mini bus to transport members to and from the centre, taking them on trips out to places such as Snow Drop Valley, the Quantocks and over the border into Devon to visit Seaton and Sidmouth.

Nina Hester, sales and marketing director at Persimmon Homes South West, said: “Supporting WHERE is important to us because they help people in the areas in which we build.

“The group are a true Community Champion that looks after hundreds of its members each month.

“We have had a fantastic response to the Community Champions scheme. If people have previously been unsuccessful, we urge them to apply again and potentially become our next Community Champion.

“We give away up to £2,000 each month to two charities, so we would encourage groups in the South West to apply.”