Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley has been awarded a £3,000 grant from the Cadent Foundation after being voted for by Cadent customers across the region.
Through it’s ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative, Cadent employees in the North West were asked to trial a new approach to the way in which local grants are allocated – by nominating local charities which were then shortlisted and put forward to a public vote. More than 1000 customers took part in the voting process with Derian House Children’s Hospice being awarded the top grant of £3,000. Action for ASD in Burnley and St John’s Hospice in Lancaster were voted runners up and will each receive grants of £1,000.
Derian House Children’s Hospice delivers end of life, palliative and neo-natal care to children and young people from Lancashire, South Cumbria and Greater Manchester. Caroline Taylor, Communications Manager, said: “We’re absolutely over the moon that the lovely lot at Cadent Gas have chosen Derian House Children’s Hospice as one of their favourite charities to receive grant funding.
“It will mean the world to the seriously ill babies, children and young people we look after here at Derian to receive this money, especially as our donations have significantly declined due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the forced cancellation of events and temporary closure of our charity shops. £3,000 could pay for three families to have a free week’s holiday to make happy memories together, or it could pay for a hospice nurse for a month.”
Derian House was nominated for the scheme by Cadent engineer, Rick Humphreys. He said: “My oldest friends’ sister is a regular visitor to Derian House, she’s 23 now and has far surpassed her life expectancy due to the love and care of the genuinely caring people there. When I heard about the Cadent Foundation’s community grant scheme, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to do something to help support them and to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication.”
Julia Dwyer, Director of the Cadent Foundation, said: “Over the last 12 months, the need to come together and support each other has never been more important. We wanted to ensure Cadent customers and colleagues were given the chance to help care for their local community by nominating and voting for charities which were close to their hearts.
“The ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative has been a huge success with 14 charities shortlisted and more than 1000 customers taking part in the voting process. The project has grown from strength to strength as a direct result of the ongoing focus, commitment and support from colleagues across the North West. It has allowed us to focus on where help is needed the most and offer grants to projects where we can make a real difference.”
The Cadent Foundation is funded by local gas network Cadent, and has been established to support projects large and small that help people living in vulnerable situations and disadvantaged communities; protect and preserve the natural environment or support in creating a sustainable energy future for all. For more information on the Cadent Foundation, visit www.cadentfoundation.com
