Leyland Trucks has continued its work to help the Preston community.

The firm’s charitable Helping Hand committee recently donated £3,000 to Rosemere Cancer Foundation, which will be used to fund projects in the new year.

Rosemere trusts and corporate fundraising manager Cathy Skidmore said: “We are immensely grateful to everyone at the Helping Hand Charity. It is has been a great supporter of ours for a long time.

“Over the years, we have received £30,315 from it, which has been put towards some truly innovative projects that have made a tremendous difference to the lives of local cancer patients.”

Read more: Preston slimmers raise over £3,000 for Rosemere

Meanwhile the Leyland firm has made a second donation of engines, componentry and equipment to Preston’s College.

Leyland Trucks is an educational partner of the college, and its apprenticeship programme is oversubscribed every year. A donation of a prototype LF DAF Truck has been made to teach those studying engineering and automotive disciplines how to disassemble, then reassemble truck components that are recognised and used the world over.

It is hoped that as well as providing Leyland Trucks with qualified apprentices who are familiar with DAF products, the donation will also support the training of apprentices of other local engineering SMEs.

Mark Knight, head of school for science, engineering and automotive yechnologies at Preston’s College, said: “Leyland Trucks really flies the flag for the positives of the apprenticeship route.

“It shows an exceptional commitment to training and retaining talented young people, offering a range of roles to suit all learning types, covering hands-on roles on the production lines, through to varied professional careers.

“Leyland Trucks should also be recognised for crafting excellent routes for female apprentices. Its work in this field is seeing the numbers of female entrants at the college rise steadily every year, which we’re thrilled to see.

Read more: Preston chosen as launch location for International Women’s Day Event

“This second donation of one of its world-renowned trucks is incredibly generous, and we look forward to another exciting year working together to pave out fruitful futures for our apprentices.”

James Jepson, HR and training manager at Leyland Trucks, said: “Supplying components, expertise, and working trucks to the college not only benefits our own apprentices, but also those from other local employers studying a wide range of engineering and production-related courses.

“Through working closely with the college, we are able to help shape the careers of future engineers and designers.”

Read more: Preston hospice receives £12,000 after Leyland Trucks’ 8,000 mile cycle challenge

What do you think of Leyland Trucks’ charitable actions? Let us know in the comments.