Community Activities
There are loads of community activities that are hosted each month in The Centre. Here's a brief selection of some of the key partnerships over the last few months.
CHAS
Retailers within The Centre, recently voted Children's Hospice Association Scotland as its new Charity of the Year 2009/10.
The Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) is a Scottish charity established to provide hospice services in Scotland for children and young people with life-limiting conditions.
A children’s hospice offers professional care, practical help and emotional support to the whole family usually from the day of acceptance, to the death of their child, and beyond.
Rachel House in Kinross, Scotland’s first children’s hospice, opened in March 1996. Robin House in Balloch opened in August 2005. Both hospices are purpose-built and each can provide ongoing support for up to 200 families across Scotland each year. The CHAS at Home Team offers support to families across Scotland by providing a home care service to families in their own homes when they need it.
Marie Curie Cancer Care
The Centre has just completed a two-year partnership with Marie Curie Cancer Care, where our shoppers helped them to raise £11682.84 between April 2007 and March 2009.
Marketing Manager, Jennifer Bruce, said: “Marie Curie Cancer Care does a tremendous job in the community and touches the lives of many. Unfortunately cancer is an illness which affects the majority of Scottish people whether they themselves are sufferers, or it is a member of their family, a friend or colleague.
“We were delighted to have helped raise this money through the generosity of our shoppers”
Marie Curie Cancer Care is a free, high quality nursing service offered to those with terminal cancer. Patients can be treated in one of the 10 hospices nationwide or, as is increasingly common, they can be treated at home, surrounded by their families and loved ones.
West Lothian Connected Partnership
The Centre works closely with West Lothian Connected and provides exhibition space in the shopping centre the organisation for community activities. These are generally education / awareness events which will be of interest to various sectors of the local community. West Lothian Connected is the umbrella brand that includes: NHS Lothian; Inland Revenue , Job Centre Plus, HM Revenue & Customs, West Lothian Council.
West Lothian College Partnership
The Centre has been working with West Lothian College over the last 5 years on various initiatives which link to the student's curriculum. Recent examples of community activities are the commissioning of a mural to commemorate 30 years of retailing in Livingston with the Creative Industries Department and student work placements within our retailers.
West Lothian Council Educational Partnership
This is a partnership between The Centre, its owners Land Securities, its retailers, St Margaret’s Academy High School and West Lothian Council
The initiative piloted a new vocational retail training scheme to encourage secondary school students to gain skills required by retailers and to increase the profile of retailing as a career choice. This initiative was so successful that it was recognised by the Scottish Qualification Association (SQA) and has been rolled out across the region.
