Festive Support for Community Groups

This festive season, we’re supporting community groups across our region with donations from a special £500,000 Christmas fund.

As part of our commitment to support vulnerable customers in the communities we serve, we asked local MPs and teams based at our local depots to nominate charities and worthy causes to receive donations over the winter period.

The special Christmas fund is part of a package of measures being rolled out to support grassroots community groups in our vital work with vulnerable customers. It follows the record £2.5 million package of fuel poverty grants we’ve already awarded to charities and community groups to help tackle fuel poverty this winter. In all, around £3 million will be allocated across our region to tackle the most pressing issues affecting communities during the colder months, including fuel poverty, loneliness and isolation and support for vulnerable people.

ChemoHero in Barnstaple is one of the groups to be nominated by its local National Grid team. It will use its grant to deliver boxes of useful items for chemotherapy patients.

Robert Wallis, Operations Manager at ChemoHero, said: “This donation will help us to continue to support chemotherapy patients at the start of their treatment with one of our boxes of kindness. Each box is packed with kindness and contains a great number of items that will help the patient through their treatment journey. Thank you!”

New Life Community Church in Lincolnshire was also nominated by its local National Grid team and will use the funds to help with energy bills for the centre’s vital foodbank service.

Sally Osmond, Pastor at New Life Community Church, said: “This donation will ensure our continued service to the community in these difficult times. Thank you, National Grid.”

Alison Sleightholm, Regulation and Corporate Director at National Grid, said: “It’s vital that we work with the people who know their communities best, to support vulnerable customers in the regions we serve. Working closely with local teams, we have been able to identify and help a range of hard-working grassroots organisations which promise to make a real difference to communities over the holiday season. Our donation is part of a significant investment we’re making this winter to support our most vulnerable customers. Through our Community Matters Fund, we’re able to empower a wide range of worthwhile projects to have an impact in their local areas over the colder months and beyond.”

The Community Matters Fund is part of National Grid’s distribution Business Plan pledge to support vulnerable customers. This includes a commitment to support 113,000 customers to make energy savings of £60 million over five years and to extend the reach of its Priority Services Register, which provides tailored support to vulnerable customers.