Green Pastures ‘heartbroken’ over Wrightbus collapse

The Green Pastures charity, led by Wrightbus’s majority shareholder Pastor Jeff Wright, released a statement expressing its “devastation” at the huge number of redundancies at the Ballymena-based business.

“We understand the hurt, anger and confusion felt by so many, as many within our own congregation have been personally affected by these job losses and we are doing all we can to support them at this time,” it added.

Wrightbus is facing questions over £15m given to the church. The money was donated over six years, helping the charity develop a huge church and village complex in Ballymena.

A former Wrightbus employee says there is “deep anger” over the situation, adding that some ex-colleagues are planning to picket the church in protest at how they feel they have been treated.

In its statement, Green pastures said: “As with any donation we receive as a church, we are incredibly grateful for the support the Wright family have offered us. They, along with many others, chose to be generous when their family business enabled them to do so.

“The leadership, staff and people of Green Pastures Church will continue to love and serve people in our community through these challenging times.”