Member Article

Sunderland staff raise their teacups to support charity

Kind hearted employees at a Sunderland customer care centre supported this year’s Blooming Great Tea Party charity event with their own afternoon tea party, which included cake sales and fundraising.

EDF Energy, based at Doxford International Business Park, hosted a special tea party and fundraising day to mark two years of partnership with Marie Curie. Generous staff donated almost £4,000 at the latest Marie Curie fundraising event, the most raised in one day at the Sunderland call centre.

Over two years of partnership the company has surpassed fundraising targets and raised £490,000, which with company match-funding has totalled £690,000. The funds will go towards enabling more people living with a terminal illness and their families get the care and support they need.

EDF Energy announced a three-year charity partnership with Marie Curie in May 2013. The original aim was for employees to raise £300,000 for the charity with the company matching its employees’ fundraising by up to £100,000 each year, providing a grand total of £600,000.

EDF Energy employee Heather Ayre, 53, from Washington said: “Twenty years ago my sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her last weeks were spent at home but my mother, who was 70 at the time, struggled to take care of her 24 hours a day. The Marie Curie Nurses came in and did a fantastic job in taking care of my sister and supporting the family through a very difficult time. The nurses really are angels in disguise.

“Marie Curie do such a fantastic job in helping those who need it most. All of us at EDF Energy Doxford support the charity and enjoy taking part in fundraisers and events to raise as much as we can.”

Joanna Hancock, Head of Account Management at Marie Curie, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone at EDF Energy for their amazing support. The commitment of local EDF Energy staff and their colleagues across the UK really makes a difference to the care and support that we are able to provide to people with a terminal illness and those close to them.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by EDF Energy .