Guest blogger Charlotte Grobien OBE of Give it Away on 'Giving to charities'

Give it Away was formed with the sole purpose of trying to make profits from the property market in order to support a variety of Charities. Since its beginning in 2006, I have built 8 new houses and supported over 12 different Charities.  Building houses is not traditionally a work place where you find an abundance of women but I often think that with a feminine approach to the detail of how a house needs to be finished (and on time) in order to make a good sale, it is an area well suited to us!

In terms of choosing which Charities could benefit from these donations I took a similarly detailed approach.  By researching those who supported children with multiple physical and mental challenges in homes where finance was strained together with finding concerns who mentored young people out of difficulty to face a better future, I formed the basis for Give it Away. Donations are made to “projects” and because I choose the smaller Charities working locally I am able to see exactly how these monies make a difference to many families.

I am a firm believer in trying to create career opportunities for young people and to develop skills and interests they may not know they had so that they are less likely to face a crisis in their formative years.  SATRO do this at a time when there is considerable need for young people to focus on technology and innovation giving them practical experience in a range of related subjects they may never have considered exploring . If this happens to include more young girls taking an interest in non-traditional career roles so much the better – I have not found it a problem!

If I could exhort more people in their middle years to use their valuable experience and resources to “earn” money or offer “time” to help young people find a better future, I will have achieved something!

- Charlotte Grobien, OBE

Charlotte Grobien OBE visits SATRO Mobile Classroom at Woodlands School

GIVE-IT-AWAY to make a difference!

A real example of social entrepreneurship

Surrey-based charity SATRO is delighted to announce that Charlotte Grobien OBE, a unique and very special social entrepreneur, has stepped up to the challenge of changing young people’s lives by supporting our programmes to inspire them about their future careers.

Charlotte visited Woodlands School on 1^st October 2015 to see the SATRO Mobile Classroom in action accompanied by SATRO Chairman, James Dubois and Fundraiser, Lucy Miguda.  Charlotte has very kindly sponsored this very special activity for the students for this academic year, the students were delighted to present her with a bird box they had made during their sessions with the SATRO Mobile Classroom.

Charlotte Grobien, said “I loved the visit to Woodlands.  Such a lovely school in all respects: beautiful grounds and buildings with dedicated staff and happy children.  It is a pleasure to help them with funding for the SATRO Mobile Classroom”

During the course the students have also made planters which so impressed Charlotte that she has commissioned the students to make two for her next project in Woking.  The students are thrilled with this opportunity to showcase and sell their work; for Charlotte this is real social entrepreneurship!

Charlotte runs Give-it-Away which is unique in how it raises money for charity – it builds  houses, sells them and then gives the profits to charities that fit with Charlotte’s charitable interests.  Charlotte supports small, local charities who work with vulnerable children and young people who have disabilities, learning problems, difficult home backgrounds and where there is also financial deprivation. 

Gill Lloyd, Teacher at Woodlands School commented “The students look forward to working with the tutor from SATRO each week and are very proud of their new skills and of the useful items that they make”.

Woodlands is in Leatherhead and is a school for children aged 2–19 with a range of difficulties including severe learning difficulties and complex needs. The SATRO Mobile Classroom will be teaching the schools 6^th Form Students construction skills to enable them to extend, enhance and learn new manual skills.

The school have appreciated the benefit of the SATRO offer which gives the students opportunities to develop their awareness of safety, how to follow instructions, learn new and different vocabulary, work as part of a team or in a group, learn to take turns and work independently. The SATRO Mobile Construction Classroom is very exciting for the students; and provides them with different stimulation and the opportunity to learn by doing which suits the learning style of many of the students. The school very much appreciates that this opportunity would not be available to us without the financial support of the “Give it Away” Charity or the expertise of Surrey SATRO. 

SATRO RECEIVES £10,000 GRANT FROM HEATHROW COMMUNITY FUND

 TO FUND SATRO MOBILE CLASSROOM CONSTRUCTION COURSE AT

SUNBURY MANOR SCHOOL, SUNBURY-ON-THAMES, MIDDLESEX

SATRO is delighted to announce that Heathrow Community Fund has donated £5,000 towards the cost of the SATRO Mobile Construction Classroom to attend Sunbury Manor School, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex on a weekly basis. SATRO runs a fleet of five mobile classrooms which attend schools across Surrey and its boards teaching up to BTEC Level 1 Building and Construction Skills to Years 10 and 11 students. 

Louise Duncan, HeadTeacher said “We have worked for years with SATRO Mobile Classroom for our Year 10 and Year 11 students and it has made such a difference to them.  They have relished the opportunity for more hands on practical work, enjoyed developing their skills and working in a completely different environment.  For some students it has given them an opportunity to succeed in a way which more academic subjects have not always offered them.  It has also had such a beneficial impact on their other students as they have seen the Construction Classroom as something special for them, somewhere where they can succeed and work in a different way and for many it has shown them a way into college.  We were so disappointed that for financial reasons we were not able to continue this provision and so grateful for the injection of funding from Heathrow Community Fund which means we will be able to do so.  It will make such a difference to our next cohort of Year 10 students, thank you.”

Heathrow Community Fund also donated £5,000 to SATRO to help fund a new van for this much needed programme.

Heathrow Community Fund is part of an independent grant–making charity set up by Heathrow’s owners to support and strengthen local communities close to the airport.  In the past two years it has donated more than £1 million through three grant programmes, funding projects which support young people, help protect the environment and support active local communities.  Funds come from an annual donation from the airport, donations from airline passengers and fine imposed on aircraft that breach noise limits.  

SATRO Volunteer donates pre-war Meccano set

We'd like to send a huge thank you to our volunteer that very kindly donated a pre-war Outfit no.10 Meccano set for us to sell. After placing an advert on a specialist Meccano website, we are pleased to say that we have sold the set for a massive £555! Thank you so much to our very generous volunteer, this money will go towards inspiring more and more young people in Surrey about their future careers!

GIVE-IT-AWAY to make a difference!

Give-It-Away donates £20,000 to support programmes run by SATRO 

Surrey-based charity SATRO is delighted to announce that Charlotte Grobien OBE, a unique and very special social entrepreneur, has stepped up to the challenge of changing young people’s lives by supporting our programmes to inspire them about their future careers.  Charlotte attended St Dunstan’s School, Woking on 15^th June where SATRO were delivering a Junior Business Game and presented her donation  cheque to Beccy Bowden, CEO, SATRO.  Beccy commented “It is an honour to work with someone as inspirational as Charlotte – not only has her donation enabled us to reach many more young people and ensure they take their next steps to a promising career,  I’m sure meeting her will also inspire them to achieve great things! There are many, many young people, even in a county as vibrant as Surrey, who struggle to find their way in life – often unseen and unknown about by the ‘general public’. Everyone at SATRO, staff and volunteers, is passionate about helping them and I'm delighted that all that hard work and determination has been rewarded by Charlotte’s support.”

Give-it-Away is unique in how it raises money for charity – it builds houses, sells them and then gives the profits to charities that fit with Charlotte’s charitable interests.  Charlotte supports small, local charities who work with vulnerable children and young people who have disabilities, learning problems, difficult home backgrounds and where there is also financial deprivation.  Charlotte’s donation will enable SATRO to run the Mobile Construction Classroom at Woodlands School, Leatherhead, support disadvantage students on their extended work placements and enable SATRO to reach out to young people with career and university advice.  She will also sponsor several events which are designed to stimulate and challenge young people and to develop skills in problem-solving, team-working and time management. These are skills which many employers value, especially those in STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) related industries.

Charlotte commented “I was delighted to meet SATRO recently and to hear about the enormous number of programmes they are running in the Surrey area which benefit young people who may be unable to identify what their role in business and industry could be on leaving school.  By engaging them at a young age in a variety of hands on projects, they are better able to see their future  potential in careers which they may not have thought of.  I was especially pleased to see a construction based challenge!  I am very committed to providing as much positive opportunity as early as possible for young people and am very pleased that my contribution will be put to practical use”.