Charity Partnership
At Edinburgh Airport, we realise a sustainable future is for the Greater Good. A sustainable future is important to all of us because we all want to know we are caring for our planet, for our friends and family and for the people and things that make up our lives.
As an airport we are committed to help support change in our local communities – change that will serve future generations.
As part of this commitment, we want to be a good neighbour. A neighbour that collaborates with and supports our local communities. A neighbour that shares its business success with communities via investment and awareness. A neighbour that invests resources in programmes and communities most affected by our operations.
One of the ways we do this, is through our award-winning Charity partnerships - our partnership with Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) won the ‘Best Partner Relationship’ award at the 2018 Institute of Fundraising Awards.
From 2022 our charity partnerships will be in place for a period of two years. As part of a review of current partnership working we decided two-year partnerships provide us more opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on the projects we collaborate with.
The Larder - Our current Charity Partner
Edinburgh Airport will continue working with The Larder in 2023 after the partnership was extended to run for two years.
Staff at Edinburgh Airport first voted for The Larder to become the airport’s corporate charity of the year for 2022 and it has now been announced that the partnership will continue for another 12 months.
As we work with The Larder in 2023 we plan to facilitate more skills and knowledge sharing, as well as training and volunteering opportunities for staff while also continuing to fundraise and raise awareness of the charity.
The Larder is based in West Lothian and works to provide training for young people around issues such as employability, health, wellbeing and life skills, as well as learning how to cook and using food as a way to promote social change.
The social enterprise provides direct work experience for young people within its cafes, which also provide nutritious and affordable food for people within local communities.
The Larder was one of more than 50 charities and organisations that applied to become the airport’s charity partner in 2022, eventually coming out on top of a staff vote. The criteria for 2022 was changed to align with the airport’s Greater Good sustainability strategy and partner with a group supporting one or more of the key pillars in the strategy:
Zero Carbon – charities who are working to mitigate and reduce the impacts of climate change
Enhancing Scotland – charities playing their part in managing environmental impacts such as water consumption, waste generation and improved re-use and recycling
Scotland’s Best Business – charities supporting people into employment or providing community mental and physical health and wellbeing initiatives
Trusted Neighbour – charities carrying out essential and vital work in our local communities
Our previous partnerships
We pride ourselves on the success of our past partnerships and since they have begun, we’ve raised nearly £400,000 for a number of amazing charities.
Our partnerships are also award winning! In 2018, our partnership with Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) won the ‘Best Partner Relationship’ award from the Institute of Fundraising and we were shortlisted for the ‘Inspiring Partnership Award’ at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2019.
Due to the impact of Covid-19, we extended our partnership with our 2020 Charity of the Year, SAMH, for a further year to the end of 2021.
2020 / 21 – Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH)
2019 – The Yard
2018 - Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA)
2017 - Children 1st
2016 - Guide Dogs Scotland
2015 - Erskine
What we do
We work with our charity partner to help create a calendar of events for our staff to take part in.
From skydiving and abseiling; to running and cycling; to baking and quizzing – our people and teams also get their heads together to come up with innovative and creative ways to raise money.
But it's not only about raising funds; we raise awareness of our charity partners too. Helping to put them in the spotlight across our campus and in the media – through away days, volunteering opportunities, training, social media and advertising. Through our two year partnerships - in place from 2022 onwards - we want to share knowledge, training and skills, leaving a lasting legacy with our charity partners.
