17 March 2010 16:53
E.ON employees vote Cancer Research UK as their charity of the year

Over the last two weeks, E.ON employees across the country have been voting for their chosen charity from a shortlist of six well known charities.

And Cancer Research UK was chosen as the winner after scooping more than a third of the thousands of votes from colleagues who took the time to view short films made by the charities themselves and by voting for their favourite.

Sarah Green, Employment Involvement Manager at E.ON, said: "It's fundamental to us that our colleagues get the opportunity to have a say on which charities we support. It's great so many people got involved in the vote, and Cancer Research UK not only made a great, incredibly moving film for us but clearly were far and away the most popular charity."

E.ON pledged to turn votes into cash by donating £1 to the chosen charity for every vote made. 2,439 colleagues voting has resulted in a generous donation of £2,439 being made to Cancer Research UK to kick start the fundraising.

Jools Tait, Director of Partnerships at Cancer Research UK, said: "We're delighted to be chosen as E.ON's Charity of the Year, and are really looking forward to working together in 2010.

"We're funded entirely by the general public, and so without the generous support of individuals, and companies like E.ON, we would not be able to continue our vital work, helping to save more lives and achieve our vision to beat cancer."

As the chosen Charity of the Year, Cancer Research UK will provide a focus for the generosity that colleagues show in their fundraising efforts. While a number of E.ON's sites already support a particular charity that's relevant to them, the Charity of the Year will act as a focal point for those who don't have an affinity with a particular charity or fundraising organisation.

Among other organisation up for E.ON's Charity of the Year were  Age Concern, Action for Children, *** Cancer Care, Marie Curie Cancer Care and NSPCC.

E.ON will now work with Cancer Research UK throughout the year to provide a range of fundraising opportunities to colleagues and support those getting involved

Ends

Notes to editors:

The Charity of the Year shortlist was based around those organisations for which E.ON employees had raised the most money in 2009.

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 92,000 worldwide;

• Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. Their groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

About Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research.
• The charity's groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has saved millions of lives.  This work is funded entirely by the public.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates double in the last thirty years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of more than 4,500 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to beat cancer. 

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7121 6699 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org.

For more information contact:
Victoria Blake on 02476 181 304