Community projects – and even Christmas – wouldn’t be the same without Palram DPL.
A successful business in its own right, the Coatham Avenue-based PVC sheet maker also devotes time and expertise to several good causes – from creating a sensory room at Glow Church and transforming the Little Clubs nursery garden to providing PVC sheets for a Newton Aycliffe FC project and, for the past few years, providing a magical Santa’s grotto.
Little wonder it was a popular winner of the Community Champions award – but technologist John Scanlon explained they weren’t in it for the recognition.
John, sporting the night’s nattiest shoes, told the 300-strong Hardwick Hall audience: “This means a lot but we don’t shout from the rooftops about what we do for the community.
“Eighty-five per cent of our workforce live in this community so for us to give back, we just feel it’s right. We do it and we’ll continue to do it because this community is everything.”
John, who was presented with the Community Champions award by Kerina Clark of category sponsor The Auckland Project, added: “Not many people have probably heard of Palram to be fair, but as long as we know we’re doing our bit, that’s fine.”
Explaining how the Santa’s grotto came about, he said Palram was approached by Community Spirit and Newton Aycliffe Police for a raffle prize.
He said: “They said they held a grotto in the town centre but it was just an 8×4 shed and Santa sitting there.
“Peter, the plant manager, said, ‘if you want a grotto, we’ll build you a grotto’ and we’ve done it for the last three years. And we’ll continue to do it as long as people want us to.
“We don’t go out there looking for people. Our name is getting heard so charities come to us.
“If we can help them, we will, but sometimes we can’t. And we don’t throw money at people because there are so many good causes, who do you throw money at?
“But we do use the skills and resources we’ve got to give them something else.”
And John says helping their community means the world to Palram’s 85 staff.
He added: “It’s seeing other people’s faces, that’s why we do it. The first grotto we ever did, the opening event was with the Five Acres centre.
“Honestly, I was in tears – the kids’ faces meant everything. And it’s in moments like that you think ‘yes, this is why we’re doing it’.”
Palram edged Sisters of Support CIC and ALP Active at Greenfield Academy to the Community Champions category at the 2025 #MakeYourMark Awards, which was delivered in association with Senstronics.
