Aerospace team from Leonardo in Edinburgh raise £62,652 for Harmeny Education Trust

After being moved by the stories of young people bravely rebuilding their lives after traumatic experiences, Leonardo employees have raised £62,652 for Harmeny Education Trust during their three-year partnership.

People working at Leonardo in Crewe Toll trekked to Everest Base Camp, abseiled from the Forth Bridge, cycled hundreds of miles and even completed a firewalk to boost their fundraising. Based in Balerno, Harmeny Education Trust offers therapeutic residential care and education to children aged 5-14 years.

When Covid-19 hit in March 2020, Leonardo stood by Harmeny, providing urgently needed PPE and continuing their fundraising via online quizzes.

Some employees also donated the money they would normally spend on coffees and their daily commute when they began working from home. Employees completed a virtual Kiltwalk in 2020 and 2021 that was the equivalent of scaling all 282 Munros.

Leonardo's hardy fund-raisers proved their mettle - walking over hot coals to raise money for Harmeny

The three-year partnership was extended to counterbalance the impact of the pandemic. In the concluding weeks of the partnership which ended in April, Craig Morrey and a team of his friends trekked to Everest Base Camp at 5364m while Leonardo cyclists Iain Scott, Tony Innes and Steve Carter completed the Scottish Etape racing 100km round Loch Ness in the Highlands.

Neil Squires, Harmeny’s Chief Executive said: ““The support of Leonardo has been amazing. Despite Covid they have continued to find inventive ways to support the charity and have given over 200 hours of volunteer support to our events, education programme and estate. We hugely appreciate all they have done and, together, we will ensure that some of Scotland’s most remarkable children get the spaces, support and opportunities they need to thrive.”

Of the money raised, £50,000 will help build a new outdoor centre and learning hub. The remaining £12,000 has funded ongoing activities, such as days out and education sessions for the children.

Since the start of Leonardo’s partnership with Harmeny, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) Ambassadors Seamus Somerville, James Lea and Jonah Howard have created carefully tailored STEM activities to build the children’s confidence and sense of their future career potential. This has included fun animations to explain radar technology, infrared images to illustrate the infrared spectrum, and rocket bottles to demonstrate propulsion.

Scorched soles but smiles all round for the Leonardo firewalkers

The Leonardo team has built relationships of trust with the children that has grown over the years and has boosted the children’s faith in people as well as their future.

James Lea said: “When they started, a lot of the kids struggled with worrying about feeling they’d failed at a task. If something went wrong they would get upset and need to be calmed down. As time went on, we explained that being an Engineer is all about learning from failure, and that failure is part of growth – accepting it and learning how can we fix it and go again. Seeing their understanding of this and progress and development is very rewarding.”

John Weitzen, Chair of Leonardo’s Charity Committee in Edinburgh added: “I think once we visited the facilities and saw their work at close hand, we felt inspired, not only to raise funds, but to actively support the remarkable children to help build their confidence and believe in their potential for the future. Many of our teams have told us how they have felt enriched by the experience of knowing them.”