Schools across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have benefited from a local housebuilder’s pledge to support the communities in which it builds.
Cala Homes (North) has conducted several talks to pupils and donated a combined £1,330 to schools in the past academic year.
This year saw the housebuilder’s much-loved Easter egg hunt for school pupils move from Cults to Westhill. Pupils can find numbered eggs in local businesses for a chance to get an Easter treat for correctly finding them all. Cala also makes a donation to a local school in the area for every completed form handed in.
Cala donated more than £3,000 to Cults Primary School during the Easter egg hunt’s time in the suburb. This year, it donated £530 to its catchment school in Westhill, Elrick Primary School after 106 local pupils took part in the egg hunt.
Other monetary donations Cala made to local schools in the past year include £600 to Milltimber Primary School for its new sensory garden and £200 to Cults Primary School for additional classroom items.
The housebuilder has also gifted art supplies to a pupil from Milltimber Primary School, who recently won a competition to name a sculpture, located at a new playpark at its landmark Oldfold Village development.
Milltimber Relay Bike Marshalls
Ebony Taggart, who has just moved up to P5, suggested the horse statue at Cala’s Oldfold Village development should be called ‘Oldfold Spirit’, after she was inspired by the history of the site, which once housed horse riding stables.
Cala also awarded art supplies to runners up from each class and also made a donation to cover the cost of arts supplies used to decorate the school’s CLAN BookBench after the housebuilder was paired with Milltimber Primary School for the trail.
In June this year, Cala committed to a £500 sponsorship of Milltimber Primary School’s annual relay race. The race raised funds to purchase playground equipment.
Steven Skinner, a teacher at Milltimber Primary School, said: “We can’t thank the Cala team enough for their support over the previous school year, from the generous monetary donation to our sensory experience, to giving our pupils a chance to become a part of their Milltimber development through the sculpture naming competition, it was a brilliant end to the school year.”
As part of Cala’s Community Pledge, it also has two presentations it can deliver to schools to support the curriculum. Stay Safe, Stay Away teaches children about the dangers of playing around construction sites and Land to Life shows children the full lifecycle of bringing new homes to life, from submitting planning applications to unveiling the showhome.
Representatives from Cala visited Westhill Primary School to talk to children about the homebuilding industry and how homes in their local community have been brought to life through the Land to Life talks, as well as Elrick School to talk through Stay Safe, Stay Away, and reiterate the potential hazards of construction sites, and why they shouldn’t be played in.
Cala Homes sales advisor Ebony Rettie (left) with Ebony Lorraine Taggart (right)
Jenny Anderson, Acting Head Teacher at Elrick Primary School, said: “Since Burnland Meadows launched, Cala has gone above and beyond to be involved with our school community – from having their team members come in to speak to pupils about safety and career opportunities, to the monetary donations made which have been able to allow us to purchase additional educational equipment to support our pupils.
“The Easter egg hunt was thoroughly enjoyed by many of our pupils and a fantastic way to help showcase some of the wonderful local businesses on our doorstep.
“Our ongoing relationship with Cala Homes has been incredibly beneficial, for that we’re so grateful, and excited to see what the 2025/26 school year holds.”
Cala is committed to bringing added value and meaningful benefits to the communities in which it builds through its Community Pledge, not just through the homes created, but by investing and enhancing in the very essence of what brings a local community together. The Community Pledge can comprise donations and school engagement plus other activities such as volunteering and much more.
Samantha Leckie, Marketing Manager at Cala Homes (North), said: “Being involved with the local community is at the heart of Cala and everything we do. Schools play such an important role in our communities and can often be a factor in homebuyers deciding where they’d like to live.
“The Stay Safe, Stay Away and Land to Life talks are a great way of not only stressing the importance of not treating building sites like playgrounds, but also highlighting the variety of job roles involved in building homes, and what our different teams do throughout the lifecycle of creating new homes.
“They are always fantastic sessions, and the children are incredibly enthusiastic and engaged – we are looking forward to hosting these talks at the schools closest to our upcoming developments, such as Raemoir Park in Banchory, and Conglass Brae in Inverurie.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to the schools we have partnered with during the previous school year for allowing us to work with and support them, and we are looking forward to building on these relationships and creating new relationships with more schools during the current academic year.”
For more information about Cala Homes and their developments in the North of Scotland, please visit https://www.cala.co.uk/.