NFU Mutual Derbyshire Peaks agency is proud to support four local charities through NFU Mutual’s Agency Giving Fund

We recently nominated Ashgate Hospice, Blythe House Hospice, Glitz&Glamour Ashbourne, and Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy, to each receive a donation of £7,899 from NFU Mutual’s national £2.33 million ‘Agency Giving Fund’. The Fund forms part of NFU Mutual’s £4m pledge to support charities during 2026. 

At Ashgate Hospice this donation will enable the funding for 2 new riser recliner chairs which are vital pieces of equipment on their Inpatient Unit.  As well as the physical benefit of the chairs, such as reducing pressure, maintaining posture and ensuring comfort, the chairs are also beneficial to the wellbeing of their patients. Being able to get out of bed, dressed and prepared for the day ahead, perhaps for a visit from friends and family, can help to boost their confidence and self-esteem, something that is normal to most, but makes such a difference. The chairs can be taken outside on to the patients’ patio area, or into gardens to enjoy the benefit of being outdoors, in comfort. Patients can also sit or recline in the chair to receive a relaxing complementary therapy treatment, for example Reiki or an Indian Head Massage. The chairs are designed to give patients the independence to change position and go into a back position so that they can completely rest, and sleep if they need to. The rise recliners can also be used in the evening and at night by the patients loved ones staying on the Hospice ward; keeping them close when it matters most.

Blythe House Hospice will use the donation to keep its Roaming Car Service going across Derbyshire. This service enables registered nurses and health care assistants to go out to people’s homes when they have an urgent care need overnight. This allows the hospice to provide a range of care for patients who have a life-limiting illness over the age of 18, including those with symptoms of pain, breathlessness, restlessness, and anxiety. The importance of this service can not be overstated and in 2025 the service avoided 1,599 going through 999 and avoided healthcare costs of circa £175,000. Not only that, it allows patients to have the dignity of being treated in their home, close to family in some of life’s hardest moments. The referrals for the service doubled in 2025 and are expected to continue growing in 2026, and as an organisation that relies on charitable donations, we know that our contribution will be put to the best use for people in our community.

Glitz&Glamour Ashbourne is a charity that raises funds for breast and gynecological cancer care. Our donation will be used solely to help University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust to access innovative equipment and research that the NHS does not normally provide. Previously, the funds have purchased 2 new vacuum assisted core biopsy needles, surgical chairs, and even funded PHD cancer research. The benefits of equipment such as this are improving experiences of chemotherapy, or medical procedures in this area, and perhaps contribute to the discovery of new procedures, and discoveries through research. It is a local charity that directly impacts the care people receive in our local area, and we are proud to be able to support in our small way.

If you didn’t know Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy is more than “just church”, we have decided to support this charity because of the vital and work they do across our rural community. The team help people navigate life, policies, law and everything else in life's toughest moments. They often come alongside a family or individual following a loss or any other life upheaval, signposting them to available services and additional support. They can be the "frontline" in this pastoral care and support in an often-overlooked rural community. This donation will help Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy to continue operating with the funds going towards combatting isolation by supporting their magazine, hiring rooms for gatherings, getting materials to share with the community and most importantly to help support in the induction of their new administrator.  Having an administrator helps to free up the chaplains to spend more time out and about supporting the agricultural community and less time sat at a desk doing the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff that has to be done in any organisation.

To every single NFU Mutual customer both at our agency and across the network, thank you, it is because the NFU Mutual exists that this funding is available to our local charities. To find out more about the NFU Mutal Agency Giving Fund visit: The NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund