Guest blog by NFU Mutual
2 minute read
NFU Mutual’s agent and branch offices in Scotland are delighted to have nominated 32 local charities to receive a combined donation of more than £206,000 from a national £2m ‘Agency Giving Fund’ launched by NFU Mutual’s Head Office.
In response to the ongoing challenges faced by communities across the UK, leading rural insurer NFU Mutual announced £2.75m of funding for local and national charities earlier this year. As part of this initiative, the insurer has donated £2m to local charities through its Agency Giving Fund to help charities across many sectors to keep their life-changing services going throughout the pandemic.
To ensure these donations reached all corners of the UK and were directed where they’re needed most, NFU Mutual’s agency offices and branches, with over 300 locations nationwide, were given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund. The funds have been issued over 16 weeks from the end of February, offering support as lockdown measures continue to impact our communities.
The full £2m of donations have now been awarded, with 32 local charities benefitting across Scotland.
One of the charities in Scotland to benefit was South Kintyre Development Trust (SKDT), nominated by the Campbeltown agency. The donation will enable SKDT to manage and maintain the Robert Black Memorial Helipad over the coming years.
Eric Spence, Trust Manager for South Kintyre Development Trust, said: This is a vital lifeline service and will literally save lives by reducing transfer time for critical patients to and from hospitals in Glasgow. This donation will ensure that the helipad is able to be used as and when necessary all year round.
“SKDT has also supported the local community throughout the pandemic and lockdowns. We took the lead in setting up the Kintyre Community Resilience Group which, working closely with other community groups including Shopper-Aide and Kintyre Foodbank, used volunteers to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens could continue to access the food and medicines they needed. We also distributed over 2000+ facemasks, 4000+ bars of soap and 1000+ bottles of sanitiser to the local population to ease the transition out of lockdown”.
Mark McBrearty, NFU Mutual regional manager for Scotland, said: “The Coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on everybody, including our customers and their local communities. Charities like South Kintyre Development Trust are making a wonderful difference to communities across Scotland in these challenging times, and we are proud that our agents have nominated a wide range of local causes to benefit from NFU Mutual’s national fund.”
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