COMMUNITY good causes and educational establishments throughout north Wiltshire are being urged to apply for help from the James Dyson Foundation.

Since 2002, the James Dyson Foundation has supported local initiatives to Dyson’s Malmesbury Innovation Campus. Last year, this included 1,000 school laptop donations and 1.5 tons of food for Malmesbury Foodbank.

The donations kitted out IT suites, expanded the availability of learning resources and ensured students remained connected when learning from home.

Over the past 20 years the company has donated Dyson machines to local fundraising efforts as well as provided financial support to local organisations and initiatives such as Malmesbury Carnival, Malmesbury in Bloom and Malmesbury Youth FC.

It has also provided ongoing engineering education support to local schools, including SolidWorks software and robotics equipment to Malmesbury School last year, to excite its pupils about engineering, get hands-on with problem-solving and hopefully consider future STEM pathways at an early age.

Shira Wilkins, academic leader at Malmesbury School, said: "“The James Dyson Foundation’s financial and equipment support has allowed the robotics club at Malmesbury School to flourish.

"The funding has enabled the club to expand, enter competitions and have the flexibility to be creative in our events and offerings for our students. This club inspires and widens their future career options.”

Ray Sanderson, chairman of the Malmesbury Foodbank, said: “We are very grateful to the James Dyson Foundation for their continued support of the Malmesbury and District Foodbank in 2021.

"Their support collecting food and help packing our summer foodbox scheme enabled us to feed more than 60 children throughout the six-week summer holidays with nutritious lunches and snacks when not at school, equivalent to around 1.5 tons of food.

"Without this support, the foodbank would struggle to meet demand. Thank you to all at Dyson for making a difference for nearly 1,300 people that were fed by the foodbank last year.”

In 2022, the Foundation continues its local community fund, providing small financial donations and Dyson machines for fundraising purposes, to charitable causes within a five-mile radius of Malmesbury and that fit within the charity’s remit – engineering education, medical research and local community support.

The engineering giant now wants local communities to get involved, just like Malmesbury School and the Malmesbury Foodbank.

The James Dyson Foundation, Dyson's charitable arm, introduces young people to the exciting world of engineering, encouraging them to think differently, make mistakes and realise their engineering potential.

James Dyson, the company's founder and chief engineer, said: "We want to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists and we want to do this by hands-on learning and experimentation.

"But those new ideas aren't limited to engineering. We also donate to medical and scientific research, as well as supporting the local community near Dyson's global HQ in Malmesbury."

Lydia Beaton, global head of the James Dyson Foundation, said: “For 20 years, the James Dyson Foundation has supported Malmesbury and areas close to Dyson offices in the UK, with financial aid, Dyson machines and educational resources.

"Nearby schools, events and fundraising initiatives have benefitted from the pledge. We are privileged to champion the great work of our local communities; please get in touch via our website to see how we can continue to help this year. We look forward to hearing from you.”

https://www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk/contact-us/request-a-donation.html.