Vistry Group smashes fundraising target for SSAFA

28 January 2025

Employees across Vistry Group, the UK’s leading provider of affordable mixed-tenure homes, broke their charity fundraising record for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.
 
Vistry Group raised £686,072 for SSAFA – its 2024 charity of the year – with staff taking on challenges and holding events to raise the sum, which, with Gift Aid, takes it to well over £700,000 and more than double its target of £300,000.
 
The housebuilder, which has been awarded Gold in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and is a proud Armed Forces Covenant signatory, has many veterans and reservists working within the business, and partners with organisations to support service leavers into the construction industry.
 
SSAFA, marks its 140th anniversary this year and supports serving men and women and veterans from the UK Armed Forces, as well as their families and dependents. 
 
With a network in local communities and on military bases in the UK and from BATUS in Canada to Brunei, SSAFA offers practical, professional, and emotional support for people at any stage in their military career.
 
Vistry employees based in offices and sites from across the country led on the fundraising activities with marathons, gala dinners, treks, cycling challenges and skydives taking place in the UK and abroad. The company joined together for the Tri-Force Trials, a set of challenges set for colleagues to take on based around air, land, and water.
 
Clare Bates, Chief People Officer and General Counsel, said: “Vistry Group is proud of its commitments to the Armed Forces community, and we are delighted with the success of our 2024 partnership with SSAFA. The dedication of Vistry colleagues and the support from our supply chain for this worthy cause has been outstanding.
 
“As an Armed Forces Covenant Signatory and with many veterans and reservists within the business or families of those who have served or are serving, colleagues have been filled with enthusiasm and gone above and beyond raising funds and awareness for the charity.
 
“SSAFA has really resonated with colleagues throughout the business, and this is demonstrated by our record-breaking final fundraising figure.”
 
Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Gregory, SSAFA’s CEO, commented, saying: “SSAFA is immensely proud of the help we provide, in many different ways, to around 60,000 serving members of the British Armed Forces, veterans and their families each year.
 
“And so, we were delighted that Vistry Group chose SSAFA to be its charity partner for 2024.
 
“Vistry Group is also a great supporter of the military community, not least by reskilling and employing veterans and reservists; It rightly holds an Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Gold Award, and our values and commitments strongly align, so we knew Vistry, and its staff would make a huge effort.
 
“However, even the most optimistic among us couldn’t have predicted not only the staggering amount raised, but the supreme effort each Vistry staff member put in to make it happen.
 
“My sincere thanks to all at Vistry for their remarkable achievement.”
 
Trainee assistant site manager at Vistry Group, Stephen Howell, was in the Royal Air Force for 22 years before moving into the construction industry by joining Vistry Group in 2021. 
 
In his spare time, Stephen volunteers for SSAFA as a resettlement mentor, helping service leavers transition into the civilian world, and he added: “It’s been truly amazing to see so many of my colleagues get involved in a cause that’s so close to my heart. There’s been a phenomenal effort from across the business and it has been incredible to see everyone rally together.
 
“Being part of SSAFA’s mentoring programme, I know a lot about the wonderful work that the charity does helping service leavers and their families, and through this partnership it’s been fantastic that my colleagues now know more about this too.”