McLaren Packaging Branch Out To Support Local Charity

A local Port Glasgow horticulture charity, Parklea Branching Out, has received a large donation of sturdy white cardboard boxes from McLaren Packaging.

The boxes, which are fully recyclable, are used to package plants so customers can transport their purchases home safely. All money raised from plant sales supports adults and young people with physical or learning disabilities.

Parklea Branching Out is a charity that uses horticulture as a way of providing a wide range of training, work experience, and supported employment for a variety of people with support needs. During peak months, Parklea sells around 8,000 individual plants a week, each one needing to be carefully packaged for the customers to transport home. Donations of boxes from McLaren Packaging allow the charity to continue to sell its plants throughout these busy periods. McLaren’s experienced team also provides careers advice to young adults at Parklea.

Christine Falconer, Head of Social and Therapeutic Horticulture at Parklea Branching Out, said:

“It is fantastic for PBO to form a partnership with McLaren Packaging. When we first approached them in 2019, we didn’t foresee how many ways they would be able to support what we do in our provision of services to vulnerable adults and young people.”

“The boxes they now regularly donate make a huge difference to our social enterprise activities. As a charity, this not only saves us money, but helps us make money, assisting us with merchandising and product advertising through our social media platforms.”

“McLaren have been extremely supportive of our community options employability programme. The team has provided young people with a number of opportunities including site visits and mock interviews. This allowed them to get an idea about the company and different roles within an organisation like McLaren. The team did a great job of ensuring these opportunities challenged the young people while still being tailored to their needs.”

Ali Noble, People Engagement Director at McLaren Packaging, said:

“It is important to us that we continue to support local Port Glasgow charities like Parklea Branching Out. They have such a positive impact on those in need within our community, and we want to see them continue their work for as long as possible.”

“As well as helping Parklea Branching Out to save money on packaging, all the boxes we supply are made from a high recycled content cardboard and are 100% recyclable, allowing Parklea customers to easily dispose of their boxes once they can no longer be reused.”