Wolverhampton firm raises £25,000 to help city hospital in Covid-19 fight

A Wolverhampton business has been praised after raising more than £25,000 to support the city’s NHS Trust tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

SCP Forgeco Ltd, based in Meadow Lane Bilston, used the money it raised to source PPE, coveralls and hand sanitiser for New Cross Hospital to help NHS staff on the frontline.

The donation has been praised by Councillor Stephen Simkins, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, who said: “This is a remarkable achievement and demonstrates the spirit of generosity shown throughout Wolverhampton.

“It underlines the ‘One City’ approach taken to tackling the pandemic and I’d like to thank the SCP Group, other businesses in the construction industry and the general public who came together to support the NHS.”

The scaffolding fitting manufacturer supplies equipment to construction sites across the globe. But following a family bereavement in April for SCP Forgeco’s Managing Director, Ranjit Dale, and witnessing the huge demand for PPE at New Cross Hospital, he launched a fundraising campaign.

His family kickstarted it with a £10,000 donation and many of the company’s customers in the construction industry, plus the general public, donated generously to reach the bumper figure of £25,755.

The company then secured an agreement with a UK supplier to provide large numbers of PPE equipment suitable for NHS staff at New Cross Hospital.

Mr Dale said: “After seeing the amount of PPE that was used daily by the staff, I wanted to see if I could help.

“At that point I felt it was my duty using our UK connections to source the necessary PPE and this led to our very successful just giving fundraiser.

“I would like to personally say thank you to everyone in my company, associated companies, family, friends and everyone that donated to our cause.”

Rachel Robinson, Community and Events Fundraiser at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: “We are very grateful for SCP Group’s generosity and wonderful donation. Our staff are doing a fantastic job in exceptionally challenging circumstances and this donation will help keep them and the people they are caring for safe.”

SCP Forgeco is one of many city businesses to benefit from City of Wolverhampton Council’s Aim for Gold programme which provides business and investment advice and access to grants.

Councillor Simkins added: “We’ve been working closely with SCP Forgeco for some time now and it’s good to see that despite the pandemic, they remain strong.

“The ‘Aim for Gold’ programme is open to all small and medium sized businesses in the City of Wolverhampton. The support we can offer can be critical, especially in these difficult times.

“It gives the businesses the support they need to help them continue to thrive and grow, and to look ahead to better times once the pandemic is over.”

To check the eligibility criteria and to register your interest for the council’s Aim for Gold programme, visit

www.investwolverhampton.com/aimforgold.