The Newark Trust, a newly-established charity to effect positive change in Inverclyde, has been launched with a major £100k donation from McLaren Packaging to kick start its vision to improve the lives, health, and welfare of people in Inverclyde, creating opportunities for a positive future.

Dedicated to making a lasting impact by working together with the community and financially supporting local organisations to create a positive future for the people of Inverclyde, the current focus areas of the Trust are child poverty, assisting children and young people with disabilities and supporting local communities.

Trust Charity Manager Claire Stone said: “I am excited to see the Trust receiving such a positive start. Much work has been going on to establish the charity, including deciding the name, which is inspired by Newark Castle, the original settlement and historic cornerstone of the local community.

“The Castle was for a long time hidden behind the giant cranes and sheds of the Clyde’s great shipyards and has only recently re-emerged to take its place in the townscape of Port Glasgow, symbolising a re-igniting of community that The Newark Trust aims to emulate.

“Newark was the original name for the town until the late seventeenth century, when it became known as Newport Glasgow, then simply Port Glasgow.”

The Trust is currently governed through a board of six trustees, including three founding trustees Jennifer McLaren and her sons Donald and Michael, Finlay Campbell, Alasdair Miller and chaired by Nikola Miller. The Trust intends to add more Trustees in the future.

Established by Jim McLaren in Inverclyde in 1979, family business McLaren Packaging is today run by his sons Donald and Michael. The business has always been supportive of the local community, in which the majority of its employees live, and supporting the Trust underlines this commitment.

The business has initially donated £100k and has pledged to donate a percentage of its profits every year to the Trust, to improve the lives, health, and welfare of people in Inverclyde and to help create opportunities for a positive future. 

It is considered important that employees of McLaren Packaging can participate in the Trust, and this has been enabled through the creation of a committee which can make suggestions and proposals to the Board regarding causes close to the hearts of those who work at McLaren Packaging.

A team of McLaren ‘Packaging Pacers’ raised funds for the charity by taking part in the biggest ever Glasgow Kiltwalk on April 28th.

More than 30 employees from McLaren Packaging took part in one of the three distances: The Mighty Stride (22.6 miles from Glasgow Green to Balloch); The Big Stroll (14.2 miles from Clydebank to Balloch) and The Wee Wander (3.1 miles from Loch Lomond Shores to Moss O’Balloch Park).

Michael McLaren, founding trustee at The Newark Trust, said: “The Kiltwalk is more than just a walk; it’s a celebration of community, charity, and the spirit of giving back.

“Known for its lively atmosphere, with music, entertainment, and plenty of laughs along the way, it was a day filled with joy, celebration, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re making a difference.”

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thenewarktrustkiltwalk

For further information please see www.thenewarktrust.org or contact Claire Stone at claire@thenewarktrust.org

ENDS

Issued on behalf of The Newark Trust by Liquorice Media tel 0141 332 4935 www.liquorice-media.com

Date: 29 Apr24

Notes to Editors

• The Newark Trust, is a registered charity, SC052225
• Almost one in four children in Inverclyde are living in poverty (Inverclyde SNA 2022).
• The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2020 showed Greenock Town Centre to be the most deprived area in Scotland, with over half of Inverclyde’s data zones in the top 20% of Scotland’s most deprived areas.
• The Hard Edges Scotland Report 2019 recognises that childhood harms are often an indication of problems in adulthood, in the way some harms experienced by parents affect their children, and in the way some people face multiple disadvantages at the same time.