Thank you for taking the time to view our Just Giving page. We are Mark and Nicola Telford, Founding Directors of Forth Engineering.

Born and bred in West Cumbria we have always been driven to ‘give back’ to the community, and to be thankful for the opportunities and support our fantastic community has to offer.

So as Forth enters its 25th year we are launching this initiative to raise £25k to help save and support vital services in our community.

Forth is known for its world-first innovations and we have been fortunate to work with wonderful people: all the Forth team; our partners in industry; our suppliers, and so many people across our community who have always supported us.

Not everyone in our community has been as lucky as we all have. Some through life circumstances haven’t had the benefit of finding sustainable employment and all the positive benefits that it brings for them, their families and the wider community.

We want us to mark this significant milestone of entering Forth’s 25 years in business by changing that and creating a legacy of a lasting positive social impact across West Cumbria.

At Forth we have always made it our mission to ‘give back’. From supporting local schools to sports clubs, charities to good causes we have always provided help in the form of time, expertise and funding wherever and whenever we can. For example, in conjunction with Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, we were delighted to be able to use our skills to relight the Wave, boosting local pride and bringing inward investment to the area through tourism and investment, and we are hugely proud to say that as a result Forth have won several awards for our work in the community.

I (Mark Telford) am also proud to be Chairman of local charity Home to Work, a position I hold close to my heart and the reason why we at Forth have set up this Just Giving page.

Myself and our Projects Director Graham Cartwright, who has just completed 20 years at Forth, along with many other members of the Forth Team donate circa £100k per annum to this charity in terms of volunteer hours and much-needed equipment.

Now we are asking you - businesses, industry partners, the brilliant supply chain and any organisations and individuals who are inspired by the positive difference Home to Work makes in our community to come together and hit our target of 25 per cent of that annual total and raise a minimum of £25k in Forth’s 25th year of operation, in 2025 (25-25-25-25)

If we can surpass this, it would be truly overwhelming!

Over the course of our Silver Anniversary year members of the Forth Team will also be undertaking their own personal fundraising tasks to help us reach our goal, we would love to welcome anyone to collaborate with us to aid this fantastic organisation who will continue the help others in our local community who desperately need support.

Graham and I, along with many of the Forth team, have seen first-hand how Home to Work changes lives – supporting people who otherwise wouldn’t receive any help at all.

The charity has been helping people gain confidence and life skills to enable them to find sustainable employment since 2006.

Delivering practical employment skills – everything from joinery to landscaping, helping with CV writing; with mental health support to help tackle anxiety stress and many other deeper seated problems building self-confidence; to and growing produce and learning to cook healthy meals; all of Home to Work’s support is designed to give individuals the skills and the pathway they need to gain sustainable employment. Or even just to offer a safe friendly place to make their first steps into society, offering invaluable guidance in health and well-being to those that need it.

Like many charities, Home to Work is facing a significant funding gap. Without this vital charity many people in our community simply won’t be able to get the support and guidance they need to sustain themselves and their families. They will simply slip through society’s cracks.

We want to use Forth’s 25th Anniversary to ask those who can afford a little, or a lot to help, to join us in supporting this fantastic charity, tirelessly finding ways to help and support all the people in the immediate local community, our brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles, parents and youngsters, our neighbours and colleagues, who depend upon the services provided by Home to Work and the benefits it delivers across West Cumbria.

If you read this and feel you want to do your bit and get the ball rolling on our mission to raise £25k, you can count yourself as a true community hero.

We plan to celebrate Forth’s 25th Anniversary on November 13, 2025, shining a light on what an amazing community this is and how lucky we are to have so many inspirational people in our community willing to support those less fortunate than ourselves.

Together let’s create a truly meaningful and impactful legacy for West Cumbria and our people. Thank you for your support.