Recently crowned Employer of the Year at the Burnley Business Awards, VEKA plc will now be lending their expertise as Patrons of the Friends of Burnley FC in the Community programme.

VEKA, who were also recognised as Large Business of the Year at the 2017 Red Rose Awards, are one of Burnley’s largest employers and are widely recognised for the work they do around employee engagement.

The company will now share that experience by significantly investing time, money and expertise into Burnley FC in the Community to help make a difference in the local areas.

The Friends of Burnley FC in the Community programme will soon be one year old and currently has over 20 businesses signed up who donate funds to the various community programmes run by Burnley FC’s official charity, as well as getting their employee’s hands-on in various community projects and outreach work.

Ryan Bradley, Burnley FC in the Community’s Business Development Executive at Turf Moor, said: “The Friends of scheme has seen companies of all shapes and sizes from the local area invest in their community like never before.”

“We have businesses come in and work directly on our projects such as employability and enterprise courses. We have attended fun days, sponsored walks, running events and football match fundraisers, as well as supporting various marketing and PR campaign launches. What we aim to do is get businesses hands-on in the work that we do.”

“VEKA has a fantastic ethos and a superb track record of getting their employees to engage with the local community and make a real difference. We are looking forward to working with them to grow our Friends of programme over the next two seasons so we can really get business and community working together to make a difference.”

VEKA, who are already title sponsors of grassroots football club Rosegrove FC, as well as raising money as part of the Pendleside Corporate Challenge, are delighted to become a Patron of the Clarets’ official charity.

Gabriela Hammond, Head of Human Resources at VEKA, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to add to our existing local support initiatives – working to help make a difference to the people in our town, whilst at the same time enabling our VEKA teams to get involved in their local community. We can’t wait to get started!”

To find out more information about the Friends of Burnley FC in the Community scheme please visit www.burnleyfccommunity.org/cpo-opportunities/friends-burnley-fc-community or contact our Business Development Executive, Ryan Bradley, on 01282 704716 or r.bradley@burnleyfc.com.