EDF Energy employees raise £6,000 for Marie Curie in Christmas raffle
A charity Christmas raffle organised by employees at EDF Energy, has raised around £6,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Representatives from the charity visited EDF Energy’s offices in Hove last week as the winning tickets were drawn.
Tickets for the raffle were on sale for five weeks, at a cost of £1 each, and were purchased by the energy company’s employees from around the country. Around 800 tickets were purchased from members of staff at the company’s Hove and Worthing offices alone.
The winning tickets were chosen at random by employees in Hove, with prizes including a signed Arsenal football shirt, a team paintballing day and an official England cricket bat signed by the team, which were all donated by members of staff.
EDF Energy announced a three-year charity partnership with Marie Curie in May 2013. In seven months, and several months ahead of the target date, the energy company’s employees have already raised more than £100,000 for the charity, which will be match-funded with £100,000 by EDF Energy.
Lucy Caslon, Senior Corporate Account Manager at Marie Curie, said: “It was fantastic to draw the Christmas raffle with such wonderful prizes on offer. Not only has the raffle raised £6,000 for Marie Curie but some lucky EDF Energy employees will have a very happy Christmas too.
“We’re so thankful for everyone’s support. The crucial funds raised from our partnership will ensure that Marie Curie Nurses are able to provide significantly more care to terminally ill people throughout the country.”
Marie Curie was chosen as EDF Energy’s charity partner in an internal employee vote, involving more than 7,000 members of staff. By the end of the three-year partnership, EDF Energy aims to have raised £600,000 for the charity, with the company match-funding its employees’ fundraising by up to £100,000 each year.
Glenn Ewing, EDF Energy’s Head of Customer Services South East, said: “I was really pleased to welcome representatives from Marie Curie to meet our Hove employees and take part in the draw of our Christmas raffle. We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to raise such a significant amount for the charity and I’m looking forward to supporting them further during our partnership.”
Marie Curie is one of the UK’s largest charities and employs more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, who provide care for terminally ill patients at home and in their nine hospices.
In East and West Sussex alone, Marie Curie Nurses provided more than 33,360 hours of care and supported 200 terminally ill patients in 2012/13.
ENDS
For more information contact Charlotte Mitchell in the EDF Energy press office: charlotte.mitchell@edfenergy.com 07875114872.