The charitable wing of the insurance firm QBE Re has gifted $47,500 to the cause of ending homelessness in Bermuda.

The donation to the charity Home marked the company’s third successive year of support.

The latest contribution goes to a housing programme for women with children known as Home for Families, at a property owned by Pembroke Parish Council that can support up to nine mothers and three children per family.

QBE Re staff went farther by pitching in with a day of volunteering on an outdoor relaxation area for residents and staff at “Black Circle” — the base for the charity’s housing-first programme.

The team installed sunshades and outdoor furniture and helped with painting and planting.

Denise Carey, the chief executive of Home, said the group was “immensely grateful to the QBE Foundation for its generous, ongoing support”.

Ms Carey added that the funds would help to expand rapid rehousing accommodation for women and their children.

She said that worldwide evidence showed that rapid rehousing reduced rough sleeping and repeat homelessness, cut spending on expensive temporary accommodation and reduced “the marginalising effects of prolonged homelessness”.

“Ending homelessness sustainably can only be achieved through a concerted cross-community effort, and we are heartened by the faith that QBE and all of our public, private and community partners have placed in Home.”

Ms Carey also thanked the firm’s employees for their work on the outdoor area — along with the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation, Gorham’s Ltd, The Phoenix Group, Rowe Spurling Paint Company and Deryn Higgins for their donations to help create the space.

Thomas Lowe, the QBE Foundation chairman, said: “The QBE Foundation is proud to have supported Home, not only through our donations but also by dedicating our time and energy.

“We believe that Home plays an essential role in building resilience in our community by helping members of our society at vulnerable times in their lives.”