HALEWOOD, UK, 15 January 2024 – Ford Motor Company Fund (Ford Fund), the philanthropic arm of Ford, working with their international grant-making partner GlobalGiving, has announced a £1 million investment to the end of 2025 to support Halewood and the wider Liverpool city region.
This community investment underpins Ford’s £355 million commitment announced in 2022 to its Halewood Plant, on Merseyside, which is transitioning to electric vehicle power unit production.
Ford Fund’s aim is to expand access to essential services including food provision for the underserved as well as to educate and prepare young people for the future world of work, bridging the gap between teaching and real-world industry experience. Ford Fund and GlobalGiving will collaborate with key partners including Torrington Drive Community Association (TDCA), Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and Strawberry Field.
“As the global philanthropic arm of the company, we are delighted to work with our Ford teams and non-profit partners around the world to expand access to opportunities to help people and communities move forward,” said Mary Culler, President, Ford Motor Company Fund.
“This year we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of Ford Halewood plant with our first power units for electric vehicles. Ford and its employees are fully committed to our community, and it is wonderful to continue to expand and strengthen our outreach, working with key partners in Halewood and the wider region to help make a difference to local people’s lives,” said Lee Meyers, Halewood Plant Manager.
Ford Fund is committed to investing in communities where Ford has a manufacturing presence, and Ford’s Halewood Plant has long been at the heart of the community, with employees donating wages and food items to support a number of charitable endeavours over many years. The shop floor charity committee, founded in 1983, passed the £1 million donation total in 2015, and is focused on the changing needs of its local area. Ford Halewood is ramping up to start production this year of electric power units for Ford all-electric passenger and commercial vehicles in Europe, making it Ford’s first electric vehicle power unit production site in Europe.
As part of this new community investment, GlobalGiving, Ford Fund’s international grant making partner, has provided initial grant funding to support the renovation of the New Hutte Neighbourhood Centre, the base from which non-profit TDCA provides the vast majority of their essential and accessible support to Halewood residents. TDCA is a vibrant grassroots organisation devoted to enhancing the quality of life for residents and supporting and empowering them to voice and tackle concerns around poverty, social isolation and education. The funding will also support TDCA’s food provision from an on-site café and food hub, social supermarket and mobile food service. The New Hutte Centre will join a network of global Ford community centres in Detroit USA; Pretoria, South Africa; Craiova, Romania and Bangkok, Thailand.
Working in partnership with Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and the Studio School, funding will be directed to further develop project-based learning provision to be shared more widely across schools within the Northern Schools Trust and others in the wider Merseyside area.
The project-based learning approach gives learners a unique set of tools that help them to become “work ready” as they have gained a wide range of technical and transferable skills that are desired by an industry, but which are not traditionally taught as part of the standard national curriculum. Working with Ford Fund and the Ford Halewood plant, topics including lean manufacturing, data science, mobility and transportation will be piloted.
The Steps to Work programme at Strawberry Field empowers young adults aged 18 to 25 with learning difficulties, who are neurodivergent or have barriers to employment. The programme provides work readiness training, industry placements and volunteering options.
There will be further opportunities this year and next for additional non-profit organisations to submit grant applications related to the Ford Fund’s key focus impact areas – essential services, education for the future of work and entrepreneurship. Details on how to apply will be provided later this year on www.fordfund.org.
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Ford, a global American brand woven into the fabric of Europe for more than 100 years, is committed to freedom of movement that goes hand-in-hand with looking after the planet and each other. The company’s Ford+ plan, with Model e, Ford Pro and the Ford Blue business units is accelerating its European transformation to an all-electric and carbon neutral future by 2035. The company is driving forward with bold, new EVs, each one designed with European drivers in mind and innovating with services to help people connect, communities grow, and businesses thrive. Selling and servicing Ford vehicles in 50 individual European markets, operations also include the Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Customer Service Division and 14 manufacturing facilities (eight wholly owned and six unconsolidated joint venture facilities) with four centres based in Cologne, Germany; Valencia, Spain and at our joint venture in Craiova, Romania and Kocaeli, Türkiye. Ford employs approximately 34,000 people at its wholly owned facilities and consolidated joint ventures and approximately 57,000 people including unconsolidated businesses across Europe. More information about the company, its products and Ford Credit is available at corporate.ford.com.
As the global philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, Ford Fund focuses on providing access to essential services, education for the future of work and entrepreneurship opportunities for under-resourced and underrepresented communities. Ford Fund’s partnerships and programming are designed to be responsive to unique community needs, ensuring people have equitable opportunities to move forward. Harnessing Ford’s scale, resources and mobility expertise, Ford Fund drives meaningful impact through grantmaking, Ford Resource and Engagement Centers and employee volunteerism. For more information, visit fordfund.org or join us at @FordFund on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
