Good causes across the East of England benefit from £173,000 as part of NFU Mutual’s national charitable fund
NFU Mutual’s agent and branch offices across the East of England have nominated 22 local charities in the region to receive a combined donation of £173,778 from a national £2.33 million ‘Agency Giving Fund’ launched by the Head Office of rural insurer NFU Mutual.
To ensure these donations reached all corners of the UK and were directed to supporting essential front-line community services, NFU Mutual’s agency offices and branches, with more than 280 locations nationwide, were given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund.
From providing food parcels, donating to frontline health charities and enabling outreach mental health services to continue, the fund is making a difference to communities across the region.
One of the charities to benefit in the East was Branching Out, which was nominated by NFU Mutual East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Agency, receiving a donation of £7,899.
Josh Hunt, Operations Manager at Branching Out, explained how the donation helped: “Everyone at Branching Out would like to say a massive thank you to NFU Mutual for their incredible generosity. We are a small charity, operating a social care day service for Adults with Learning Disabilities, and this donation will go towards our ‘£30k for 30 years’ campaign, with the end goal of purchasing a mini-bus. This will increase external opportunities for our service users to achieve more and gain experiences in everyday life.”
Another cause to benefit was The Rural Coffee Caravan, which was nominated by NFU Mutual Bury St Edmunds Agency, also receiving a donation of £7,899.
Ann Osborn, CEO of The Rural Coffee Caravan, said: “We’re so grateful to the Bury St Edmunds Agency of NFU Mutual for nominating our charity to receive a donation from the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund. Even more so to receive it from an organisation rooted, as we are, in rural life. The money will help us make a difference to the lives of lonely and isolated rural residents, by bringing them together for social connection and enabling them to have access to the vast range of support services in Suffolk.”
Kylie Robson-Lee, NFU Mutual regional manager for the East region, said: “Charities like Branching Out and The Rural Coffee Caravan are making a wonderful difference to our communities in these challenging times, and we are proud that our agents have nominated a wide range of local causes across the region to benefit from NFU Mutual’s national fund.”
Photograph: Donations were made by the Bury St Edmunds branch of NFU Mutual to The Rural Coffee Caravan (top) and East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Agency to Branching Out (middle)
NFU Mutual is proud to deliver more than simply insurance. Making farming safer, supporting rural initiatives across the UK and helping to look after the environment are just some of the ways we do that. To find out more about how we support our communities, visit our Responsible Business hub.
Below is a list of the additional charities we supported in the East of England through the Agency Giving Fund:
SOS Bus
East Anglian Air Ambulance
Arthur Rank Hospice Charity
Long Sutton Men's Shed
Rural Communities Mental Health Foundation
Rainbow Stars
King Edward VI and the Reverend Joseph Prime Almshouse Charity
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices
Mind Norfolk & Waveney
Charity of Mary Louisa Booth and Cecily Margaret Booth
The Butterfield Centre Limited
YANA
Fenland Society for the Blind (Fenvision)
Holt Youth Project
Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice
Peterborough Foodbank
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service
East of England Ambulance Service