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A company celebrating 150 years in business in the city is donating £500,000 to a local charity to set up a new early intervention unit on the site of the Malcolm Locker building in Erdington.

A. Edmonds & Co, a high-quality shop and interior fitters based in the Jewellery Quarter, has made the generous donation from a long-standing charitable foundation set up to help give something back to the city and its people.

The company transfers a proportion of its profit each year into a charity account and donations have been made in the past at significant milestones in the company’s history to support local needs.

A ground-breaking, £1.6 million ‘Family First’ centre is being created by Malachi Community Trust CIO, a not for profit organisation offering therapeutic specialist services to support families and schools. Established in Birmingham since 1992, they have supported thousands of children and families in Birmingham through its school’s programme and from its base Billesley Ark Family Centre in south Birmingham.

David Edmonds, managing director of A.Edmonds & Co, said the company had been looking for a standout charity project to support for its 150^th year and had been impressed by the work carried out by Malachi and its ambitious plans to replace the current Malcolm Locker building in Erdington with a family support centre and emergency social housing.

“Being a family business employing some 85 people we have always had a big social value ethos and been committed to the local community, offering capital support to local organisations. Our last major donation was to St Basils Trust to enable them to provide Edmonds Court in Small Heath which provides supported accommodation for homeless young people in the City. The founder of Malachi, Gordon Lee, made a particular impression on me for the unwavering support he has given to struggling local families and his entrepreneurship and skills in identifying and developing the new ‘Family First’ model.”

The ‘Family First’ way of supporting families is to create a one-stop-shop, bringing all the services together to work in partnership more effectively under one roof. It will also provide temporary accommodation for four homeless families who can benefit from a more holistic approach to accessing services.  Families will be referred by Birmingham City Council’s housing department to support those most in need.

A further £1.1 million is required to complete the project and Malachi is appealing to other leading Birmingham businesses to help bring the project to fruition. Gordon Lee founder of Malachi Family Trust CIO said:

“We are so grateful to Edmonds & Co for their extremely generous donation. This service is urgently required in the city to help vulnerable families who are under significant stress and need a helping hand to get them back on track. Clearly it might appear a big ask to get companies to donate to the project at this time. However organisations are beginning to think more than ever about people, communities and a need for a profit with purpose approach. The Malcom Locker project could be exactly the sort of charitable cause they can get behind, to make a real difference in the city.”

Richard Selwyn, transformation director for Birmingham Children’s Partnership added:

“The new Family First facility is an ambitious and transformative project which dovetails well into our commitment to early help for Birmingham families. We are grateful for the work of the Malachi Community Trust which is supporting children and families in Selly Oak and across the city, particularly during the pandemic, which has been invaluable.”

To find out more about the Malachi Family Trust visit their website.

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