News

Bute Energy announces charity partnerships to make an impact that matters in Wales

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2023

BUTE ENERGY says that it is proud to be supporting The DPJ Foundation and St David’s Hospice Care as its official charities, for a partnership that will be in place for three years.

This launches the first charity partnership project at Bute Energy, which aims to help people right across Wales through key themes of support, including mental health, rural support, cost of living and hospices. The charities will benefit from a full package of support, and the partnership is of mutual benefit to all parties. Both charities will also help staff at Bute Energy improve wellbeing and sense of connection to the community.

The team at Bute Energy nominated 19 charities they felt passionate about to be a potential charity partner for the company. A shortlist was created based on alignment with the organisations themes and each charity was invited to apply. Votes were counted to select the successful two:-

The DPJ Foundation, based in Carmarthen and work right across Wales. The charity support those in the agricultural sector with poor mental health by providing support, spreading awareness and training those in farming to be aware of poor mental health and its impact within communities.

St David’s Foundation Hospice Care, based in Newport. They provide a range of services to patients and their families throughout their journey of terminal illness. A holistic, family support approach is available from point of referral onwards. Services are offered free of charge throughout Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen and within South and Mid Powys for people facing a progressive life-limiting illness which is no longer curable.

Catryn Newton, Community Benefit Director at Bute Energy, said: “Our goal is to ensure we work closely with people right across Wales to identify the areas where there’s a need to deliver direct benefits. It’s our pleasure to welcome our selected charities to the Bute Energy family, as we work alongside them to identify and help them access skills through volunteering, staff fundraising and financial support for their projects. Our team are eager to start volunteering with the chosen charities, as well as providing skilled support, assisting with grant applications, social media activity and business planning, to name but a few.

“Partnering with organisations and communities in the locations in which we operate is important to us, and working with our charity partners not only give our staff the opportunity to support their communities, but it also helps us develop our knowledge, enabling us to deliver more inclusive community benefits to groups, charities and organisations in Wales.”

Kate Miles, Charity Manager at The DPJ Foundation, added: “The DPJ Foundation is really pleased to have been chosen by Bute Energy staff as one of their charities that they will fundraise for over the coming three years. For a small charity like the DPJ Foundation, being chosen means we will have the opportunity to reach more people with our lifesaving service, as every pound raised makes a real difference. It will also allow more people to find out about the work that we do with the agricultural community in Wales and has already started more conversations around mental health and wellbeing.

“At the DPJ Foundation, we support people in agriculture who are struggling with their mental health through our confidential Share the Load helpline and counselling service. It costs us around £1,000 a month to run the telephone and text helplines, which is why we are so pleased to have been selected as one of the charities that Bute Energy staff will be supporting. We have heard some of the great ideas that Bute staff have come up with for raising money for us and the other chosen charities, so are excited to see what they will do.”

Emma Saysell, Chief Executive of St David’s Hospice Care, said: “We are thankful to Bute Energy for selecting us as one of their charities for a three-year partnership which allow us to forge a great working relationship to not only raise funds but also educate the staff on our many free services that we provide locally to patients and their families. We are aware that staff have their own innovative fundraising ideas which we look forward to hearing more about, as well as encouraging the team to look at our extensive calendar of events that we organise.”

Bute Energy is based in Wales and is acting now to tackle the climate emergency, energy crisis, and cost-of-living crisis, by powering Wales with clean, green energy. Bute Energy’s Community Benefits Team are leading on delivering Community Benefits under five themes – Cost of living support, Recreation & Health, Education, Environment & Culture, and Employability. The company’s investment in this area demonstrates the commitment to maximising the benefits for Welsh communities, with above industry standard levels of financial support.

To read more about Bute Energy, visit the website, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

News

Welsh Lib Dems urge First Minister to return dodgy donation

Published

14 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the First Minister to return the £200,000 donation he received from a company linked to environmental crimes.

Speaking to the Senedd on Wednesday, party leader Jane Dodds MS urged FM Vaughan Gething to return money donated to his campaign by Dauson Environmental, a refuse and recycling business owned by David John Neal.

Mr Neal received a 3-month suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste at a conservation site on the Gwent levels.

His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and given fines and costs of £202,000.

Then in 2017, Mr Neal was given another suspended sentence of 18 weeks, with fines and costs of £230,000 after failing to remove the waste.

The Welsh Lib Dems have called on the FM to return the donation, as part of wider calls for a shift away from the influence of “big money” in Welsh politics.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“This entire episode has casted a dark shadow upon Welsh democracy and has rightfully led to many questioning the integrity of Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign and the way our democracy works here in Wales.

Unfortunately for many of us this is hardly surprising, as our political system has been broken for quite some time now.

A system that empowers the elite donor class whilst simultaneously shutting out the voice of the voter is a perversion of democracy itself.

This is why our wider goal must be to remove the influence of ‘big money’ from Welsh politics once and for all.

We cannot have another government that prioritises the interests of its financial benefactors over those of the Welsh people.

We need to take a firm stance in rooting out the influence of cash in Welsh politics, for the sake of our communities we must start prioritising their interests and needs instead of having more self-serving politicians.”

News

Council seeking legal advice to address Withyhedge enforcement

Published

14 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE County Council says it has sought legal advice and is contemplating legal proceedings against Withyhedge Landfill operators RML, in regards to the ongoing odour issues at the site.

The Council intends to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to abate the public nuisance odour arising from the landfill. Failure to comply with the injunction would be contempt of court, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and unlimited fine.

Following significant work undertaken by RML the Authority is disappointed that the problem has not been resolved and residents continue to be impacted by the odour.

Working in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Public Health Wales (PHW), we fully appreciate that the communities affected cannot tolerate this any longer.

NRW announced that the first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action on 18th April.

This will be closely monitored by NRW to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May.

It was deemed appropriate to wait until the operator had carried out mitigation to comply with the enforcement requirements by NRW prior to considering this additional action.

To that end, on 26th April 2024, the Council served RML with a letter of claim and invited them to give legally binding undertakings to abate the odour nuisance or face legal proceedings. The Council also asked for disclosure of documents relevant to the proceedings, including records of waste brought in or removed from the landfill.

The Council has given RML until 14th May 2024 to respond to its letter of claim. This aligns with the current deadline set by NRW under its enforcement notice.

Pembrokeshire County Council Chief Executive Will Bramble welcomed the move. He said: “We are extremely disappointed that RML has not delivered the necessary action to stop the completely unacceptable smells from the site.

“We fully support the additional enforcement action being taken by NRW and continue to work closely with them to do all in our power to correct the situation.

“Our intention to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to stop the odour nuisance arising from the landfill, is another part of our collaborative approach. The smell from Withyhedge is having a major impact on residents and visitors. This situation has gone on too long and it is unacceptable.”

News

Beautiful, funny and lovely: Family pay tribute to Sian Batchelor

Published

17 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE family of a woman has paid tribute to a “beautiful, funny, lovely person.”

Sian Batchelor, aged 32, was found on a beach near Pennar, Pembroke Dock on Tuesday evening, April 30^th, 2024.

Her family has issued a statement to say: ‘We are devastated by our loss. Sian was a beautiful, funny, loving person. We will treasure the good times we had with her.

“We would now like time to grieve and would ask to be given privacy in which to do so.”

The circumstances surrounding Sian’s death are being investigated and police would like to hear from anyone with information, sightings of Sian or contact from Sian, between Thursday April 25 to Tuesday April 30.

Police can be contacted either online at: https://bit.ly/DPPContactOnline, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 101. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired text the non-emergency number on 07811 311 908.

Quote reference: DP-20240430-284