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.

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