# Failed bus maker company made large charitable donations

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/09/25/failed-bus-maker-company-made-large-charitable-donations/
- Published: 2019-09-25T18:07:24+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**A major manufacturing firm in Northern Ireland which has gone into administration
with the loss of 1,200 jobs made over £15 million in donations to a Christian charity,
according to newspaper reports.**

Bus maker Wrightbus, which is based in Ballymena, County Antrim, gave the money 
to [Green Pastures church](http://www.gpastures.co.uk) which is led by the son of
the original owner of the company, Jeff Wright.

The firm, which has been in the coach-building business for more than 70 years, 
has been on the edge of financial collapse for several months. The company’s most
recent accounts show it [donated £4.15 million to Christian and charitable causes](https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/revealed-crisishit-wrightbus-gave-15m-in-christian-charity-donations-38520471.html)
in the same year it posted a loss of £1.17 million, according to the The Belfast
Telegraph’s Sunday Life.

## Advertisement

 

![Interior of New Routemaster - photo: Wrightbus](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2019/09/wrightbus-new-routemaster-interior-1024x569.jpg)

_Interior of New Routemaster – photo: Wrightbus_

 

The funding from Wrightbus for Green Pastures came from the parent company, The 
Cornerstone Group, to “fund the group’s commitment to Christian, evangelical and
other charitable activities”.

Green Pastures, a registered charity, has constructed a major new ‘super’ church
and community facilities outside Ballymena. According to the charity’s accounts 
it had an income of £7.8 million in 2018 and expenditure of £4.5 million.

In 2012, Green Pastures put in a bid of £4 million and one pound for the 97 acre
plot of government-owned [land at Ballee, near Ballymena](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32739047),
which was previously valued at £75 million.

[Jeff Wright told the Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/the-church-that-helps-you-fall-in-love-with-jesus-1.3299728)
in 2017 that “we made God a shareholder in the business – 26 per cent of Wrights
is owned by an evangelical trust – in order to make sure He was central in everything
the Wrights company does.”

 

> .[@CommunitiesNI](https://twitter.com/CommunitiesNI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) is working
> with [@mea_bc](https://twitter.com/mea_bc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) to hold a Redundancy
> Service clinic to support staff impacted by the closure of Wrightbus. This will
> take place at The Braid Ballymena Town Hall, Bridge Street, Ballymena on Friday
> 27 September 2019 from10:00am – 3:00pm
> — Communities NI (@CommunitiesNI) [September 25, 2019](https://twitter.com/CommunitiesNI/status/1176890058038829056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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