Ravenscraig McDonald's donates £10k to local cause

The organisation received a total of £10,000, plus extra support from the McDonald’s team.

FAMS Young People & Families Trauma Centre is a charity located in North Lanarkshire providing mental health support to the community. The need for mental health care in the area is recorded to be at crisis point, and FAMS was created to support with demand.

The funds from McDonald’s will be used to ensure Fams continues to provide trauma informed support and education programmes to young people affected by trauma or frightening experiences which are impacting on their daily lives.

The donation was made possible by the ‘McDonald’s in the Community Foundation’, set up by 16 Scottish McDonald’s Franchisees, and the 20 McDonald’s-owned restaurants in Scotland. The foundation provides a central hub to help distribute funds, raised by the 10p carrier bag charge, to different charities and organisations across Scotland.

McDonald’s Franchisee Alan Halliday, who owns and operates the restaurant in Ravenscraig, said: “Supporting the well-being of our community is something my team and I feel particularly committed to, our recent donation to FAMS is a step in a testament to this commitment.

"The work FAMS do is unique, and crucial to the health of young people in our community. I hope that this donation from the McDonald’s in the Community foundation can enable FAMS to continue to provide such important help to those who need it. We look forward to building this partnership in the future.”

Ann Marie Cocozza, FAMS Co-Founder, said: “On behalf of everyone at FAMS and the young people we support, we are delighted to be working in partnership with Alan and the McDonald’s in the Community foundation. The donation has helped us ensure FAMS can continue to provide trauma informed support and for young people impacted by traumatic experiences. The donation has a meaningful impact to the work we do and the local community.”

In 2023, proceeds from the 10p carrier bag charge were used to donate £2.2 million from Scottish McDonald’s restaurants, which was shared across 87 charities.