A careers training charity for women in Birmingham has been chosen to receive £1,000 from a UK leading housebuilder.

Opportunities for Liberating and Developing your Potential (OLDP) successfully applied for the funding through the Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme. The entirely female run OLDP aims to empower and upskill women and girls for careers in the built environment, through training workshops and work experience.

Barbra Quarless, chair of OLDP, said: “We are extremely grateful for the donation from Persimmon Homes, and the money will be put to great use.

“We are a registered organisation in the Age UK directory, and many of the over 70’s referred to us cannot afford small repairs/maintenance such as installing a handrail which costs approximately £120. We would like a pot of money to be able to do these odd jobs for our older clients, providing a much-needed resource for the elderly in our community.”

The ‘Deborah’ All Women painting, decorating and homes maintenance team aims to deliver good quality value for money work.

Sales director for Persimmon Homes Central, Sarah Preston, said: “Our Community Champions scheme is all about supporting groups who make a real difference to their local community.

“We make two donations of up to £1,000 every month across the areas by where we are building. For groups working specifically with the under-18’s we have recently launched our Building Futures initiative, which will share more than £1million amongst charities and good causes across England, Scotland and Wales.”