The event, held at the Marcliffe Hotel & Spa in Aberdeen on 10 June, will channel all proceeds directly to the charity.

The support AABIE provides is varied and widespread. Through AABIE, charities, projects and local causes are invited to apply for grant funding and volunteer time. AABIE Trustees then review these applications and distribute funding on a quarterly basis. This approach gives AABIE the opportunity to support a broad variety of charities across the communities where the AAB Group operates. To date, AABIE has supported over 135 charities, community projects and other worthy causes.

The latest grant round in March of this year, saw AABIE donate over £18,000 to 18 charities across Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and West Lothian – their highest grant round to date in terms of both the number of charities and the amount donated. The charity also issued top-up funding to 4 team members across Aberdeen, Leeds and Belfast to support their own fundraising.

As part of the most recent grant round, AABIE donated £2728 to Aberdeen-based Miscarriage Services Charity (MISS), to cover the cost of a bench with a plaque in the early pregnancy loss garden. A further £1000 has been pledged to Grampian Disability Sport in Aberdeen, to support the Parasport Festival in September.

AABIE also donated £1050 to Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids charity, to cover the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and energy costs for 21 children across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk. They have pledged a further £1058 to the Community Renewal Trust to help cover the cost of 360 packs of nappies for their pantry in Edinburgh, which helps those who live in an area of high deprivation.

The charity has pledged £1500 to the North Glasgow Community Food Initiative, to cover the cost of essential food supplies such as fruit and veg, milk and dairy products to stock their Royston Community Pantry for three months.

AABIE has also pledged £1,000 to the TRON Theatre in Glasgow to support their inclusion fund. This fund aims to address barriers to the arts – including disability and social and economic disadvantage - enabling more people to access their work.

Following these donations, AABIE reached the milestone of pledging over £200,000 of vital grant funding since the charity was founded in 2016. Providing volunteers is another important aspect of AABIE, with AAB Group donating a full day of paid volunteer time to every team member. To date over 4,600 hours have been donated to support community projects.

Sheena Anderson, AABIE chair commented: “We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome of our first charity ball. Raising more than £52,000 is a wonderful result and will enable AABIE to continue to support local charities and causes across the UK.

“The support and generosity we received from our clients, contacts, auction prize donors and AAB team members made this all possible, and we can’t thank them enough. AABIE is unique - augmenting the total we have available for grant funding gives us the opportunity to continue working with those who most need it.”

Graeme Allan, AAB Group chief executive & AABIE trustee, added: “What makes AABIE special is that AAB team members truly make the work that AABIE does possible. Almost all money donated from grant round funding is raised by our team members, and it is our teams who carry out all the volunteer time.

“Giving something back has always been an important part of our culture across the group, and AABIE is how we continue to make this happen. All this work has now been enhanced through funds raised at our charity ball and we are delighted with the result.

“Our business has experienced substantial growth over the past few years, and we continue to expand into new locations which gives AABIE the opportunity to support even more charities and worthy causes in our new communities.

“We are excited about the opportunity to continue the work of AABIE, and we are looking forward to kick-starting the process for our next charity ball.”