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A Midlands business outsourcing firm has donated £2,000 to a Birmingham charity which provides educational, financial and skills support to children and young people in a disadvantaged inner-city community.

Sigma Connected, which provides contact centre services for the utilities, retail, telecommunications and financial services sectors, has donated the funds through its Sigma Community Foundation to Nechells-based charity, free@last.

The four-figure sum will go towards the inner-city charity’s £100,000 drive to buy a piece of land in a nearby rural location where it can be used for young people and their families to take part in outside activities.

Sarah Birch, Business Development Director at Birmingham based Sigma, who nominated and also volunteers at the charity, said: "Free@last is a charity I have been closely involved with for nearly 10 years and have loved helping to organise events and raise funds to give the children opportunities to experience new things.

"The major aim is to purchase a piece of land near Birmingham to give the children, young people and their families a green and less polluted space for activities and celebrations. It really would be a gamechanger and we believe £100,000 would enable this dream to come true. The donation from Sigma is really significant as free@last works towards that total."

John Street, founder of free@last added, "We are absolutely delighted that Sigma have recognised the value of our work with the children of Birmingham and are supporting our efforts to extend their life expectancy by buying our own countryside field to take our youngsters out of the polluted air they consistently breath.

"We started free@last 23 years ago to make a difference to children and young people from disadvantaged, inner-city backgrounds, and our longevity has only been possible because of amazing individuals like Sarah and businesses such as Sigma, who have chosen to become a part of our journey to improve kids’ lives. Together we do make a difference and together we are changing lives".

free@last was set up in 1999 by John and his wife, Jan Street, to provide a safe place for children and young people of Nechells. From their centre on Nechells Park Road, the charity provides youth clubs, sports clubs including football, badminton and karate, stay and play groups, coffee mornings, and a range of sessions including life and digital skills, debt and benefit advice, along with careers advice.

Aside from the £2,000 donation, Sigma Connected also donated an additional £1,000 worth of Christmas presents to the charity which were shared amongst the children.

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